


Silver Lining

by NetRaptor



Series: NetRaptor's AU Sonicverse [22]
Category: Sonic the Hedgehog (Video Games), Sonic the Hedgehog - All Media Types
Genre: Crossovers & Fandom Fusions, Drama & Romance, F/M, Magic, Weather Control
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-26
Updated: 2017-04-26
Packaged: 2018-10-24 09:57:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 11
Words: 38,171
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10739349
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NetRaptor/pseuds/NetRaptor
Summary: When Knuckles tries and fails to modify the deroboticizer to work on Zephyer's biometal, Sonic and Sally go to Central Mobius in search of the green chaos emerald, which might be the key to the machine. But they are caught up in the drama of the locals battling an increasingly crazed Robo Knux, as well as a small rabbit named Cream who has devastating amounts of chaos power.





	1. Chapter 1

"Gee whiz, Knux," said Sonic, staring into the derobotizer room. The hedgehog had opened the door to find a mass of machinery lying across the doorway like a barricade. "Knux?" Sonic called, peering over the mess. "Are you in there?" The rest of the room looked like a tornado had hit-machine parts lay everywhere, jumbled together in heaps. There was a hole in the floor and ceiling where the derobotizer had been.

At Sonic's call there came a grunt and Knuckles stepped into view, rubbing his eyes. "What do you want, Sonic?"

"Did you stay here all night?" Sonic asked.

"Yes," snapped Knuckles. The echidna's face and dreadlocks were stained with grease, and the dark hollows under his eyes showed he had not slept in some time.

Sonic felt sorry for him. "I just wanted to see what you'd been doing. Junking the derobotizer, looks like."

"No," said Knuckles, "I've been rebuilding it." He grabbed the thing lying in front of the door and dragged it aside. Sonic recognized it as part of the machine's circular base. "Don't touch anything," said Knuckles, "especially not that." He pointed at a flat disk wrapped in a towel in the corner. It was the terbium crystal lens, the secret ingredient that made the derobotizer work.

Sonic looked in disbelief at the chaos around him. "You want me to get Tails or Rotor to help you?"

"No," growled Knuckles. "I can do this."

"Any luck with the biometal?"

The red echidna pointed at a dark stain on the floorboards. "That's all it does. It converts to chemicals and either catches fire or melts."

Both of which would kill Zephyer, who had been robotized with a biometal prototype.

Knuckles sat on an upside-down housing panel and held his head in his hands. "I have a killer headache."

"Get an aspirin," said Sonic. "Have you tried my belt yet?"

"I tried it last night," said Knuckles without looking up. "It's on the console if you want it back. The super emeralds weren't meant for interacting with machinery-I tried them one by one. The violet one made the metal catch fire, and the rest made my head hurt."

Sonic picked up his belt and examined it for scratches. The belt and its seven glowing stones were unharmed, so he buckled it around his waist. It became invisible as soon as he fastened the catch.

"I wish I had a chaos emerald," said Knuckles, lifting his head. "You sure you don't know what happened to them?"

"I was in space, being blasted by chaos energy," said Sonic, folding his arms. "I wasn't paying attention to where the emeralds went."

There was a brief silence, and Knuckles massaged his forehead.

Sonic picked up a scrap of biometal and looked at it. "What about the Master Emerald?"

"There's no way to bring it here without endangering the Floating Island," said Knuckles. "I don't think it'd work, anyway. I need the green chaos emerald."

"Why that one?"

"Healing powers." Knuckles looked up at the hedgehog. "If I can heal her as I derobotize her, she might have a chance."

Might have a chance? Sonic looked at the biometal scrap. No one had said anything about the derobotization process being fatal. He had been friends with Zephyer for years, and it scared him to think she might die.

Someone knocked on the door. "Come in," said Knuckles.

The door opened and a female echidna peered in, a look of shock on her face. "Good grief Knuckles! What did you do to the derobotizer?"

Knuckles got up and went to clear a path for Zephyer through the mess. Sonic found himself staring at the metal encasing her from the neck down. Taking it off her could be fatal.

Zephyer's eyes were fixed on Knuckles as he dragged things aside. "Knux," she said, and he looked at her. She glared at him. "When was the last time you slept?"

"Last night," he said.

"Don't lie to me," said Zephyer, folding her arms. "You've been in here for three solid days!"

"I'm doing this for you," snapped Knuckles, who between a headache and lack of sleep was in a terrible mood.

Zephyer came right back at him. "Killing yourself won't help me. Look at you, you aren't even thinking straight anymore! Get out of here and get some sleep."

"I swear, Zephyer," said Knuckles, clenching his fists, "one of these days..."

She stood aside and pointed at the door. He left, slamming the door behind him.

"I can't believe you're actually going to marry him," said Sonic. "Aren't you afraid he'll punch you?"

"That's like asking if you'd ever spindash me," said Zephyer, picking her way through the tangled equipment. "You don't understand echidnas. We fight. If we don't, we're not happy." She uncovered the terbium lens and looked at it. "Why isn't he using this?"

"Don't ask me, I'm not a mechanic," said Sonic. "He told me that so far the biometal either burns or melts."

She bit her lip. "I knew it wouldn't be easy. He won't be able to do it."

Sonic stood up. "I'm going to run back to Knothole. I'll bet Tails would have some ideas, he helped build this thing."

As he made for the door, Zephyer said, "It'll kill me, won't it?"

Sonic hesitated, then left without answering. This was between her and Knuckles, and Sonic didn't want to hurt her any more.

The derobotizer was built inside a tree house thirty feet from the ground. It was part of a tree house village known as Eagle's Nest, and was built in the tops of the tallest trees in the Great Forest. It had been Knothole's secondary village for years, and now that Knothole was a bustling town with several hundred people, many of the original Freedom Fighters had moved to Eagle's Nest for some peace and quiet. Sonic was one of these, and it gave him an excuse to run if he wanted to visit Knothole.

Like now. He galloped down the trail from Eagle's Nest, cutting corners and keeping an eye out for pedestrians. He had once mowed down three people, and the resulting scandal had been the reason he moved to Eagle's Nest. This time he avoided two people and skidded onto a Knothole side street with a grin. The more dangerous his run, the better he liked it.

Tails still lived in Knothole. His workshop and airstrip were there, and he did a bit of mechanic work on the side, fixing the hover cars and appliances of the people who came through on their way to New Mobitropolis. Sonic dropped by Tails's workshop and tried the door, but it was locked. There was no sign of Tails inside, so Sonic guessed he must be out somewhere and did a quick check of possible locations. No Tails. So Sonic went hunting for Sally.

He found her in her hut, surrounded by paperwork and looking exhausted. Sonic hated intruding on her work, but he never got the chance to talk to her anymore. "Hi Sal," he said, knocking on her open window.

She looked up. "What?"

"Do you know where Tails is?"

"Yes, he's in New Mobitropolis. He did somebody a favor and they're paying him back."

"A favor, cool," said Sonic, looking at the papers on Sally's desk. "You ought to come outside. It's a beautiful day. The sun's actually shining for once."

Sally looked at him, then motioned to her desk. "I can't, Sonic. I have too much work to do."

Sonic sighed and turned away. Sometimes he wished Robotnik were still in power, so Sally would go on missions with him instead of spending her days locked away with her political red tape.

Sonic jogged out of Knothole and onto the newly paved road that led to New Mobitropolis. He crouched for a moment, bracing his feet as if to start a race; then rocketed away, the wind in his wake sucking leaves from the roadsides. Some days speed was his only friend.

New Mobitropolis consisted of three blocks of houses and one block of small businesses. Knothole had the larger population, but New Mobitropolis adjoined two highways and the Great River, making it the ideal location for a capital city. Even after its destruction, people wanted to return and resume business, and the two recycling plants that had set up were going great guns.

Sonic trotted down the single main street toward the business district, keeping an eye out for Tails. He wasn't on the street, so Sonic slowed down and looked in the windows of each store as he passed. To his surprise, he located Tails inside an upholstery shop.

He walked in and was struck by the odors of vinyl and leather. A black bear was cutting out a long strip of leather, and Tails was seated in front of a sewing machine bigger than he was, stitching together what looked like a net.

"Hey Tails," said Sonic, gazing at a half-dismantled hover car with its seats sitting on the floor. "I didn't know we had a place like this in New Mobitropolis."

"Hi Sonic," said Tails without taking his eyes from the flashing needle. "Gus is showing me how to do upholstery."

"Yeah," rumbled the bear. "Tails repaired my other sewing machine, so I thought I'd show him the ropes. I doubt he'll learn anything, though."

"Gus is never happy," said Tails. "Don't mind him. I'll be able to redo the Cyclone's seats now. The vinyl was getting cracked along the sides." He pulled the tangle of leather straps from the sewing machine and held it up. "Look what I made you, Sonic!"

"Thanks, little bro," said Sonic, looking blank. "Is it a parachute?"

"No, no," said Tails. "Let me put it on you, you'll understand once it's on."

Sonic stood still and let Tails buckle the mass of straps around him. It felt like a backpack, for a mass of weave covered his back, and it buckled across his chest and waist. "There!" said Tails, snapping the last catch and standing back. "How's it feel?"

Sonic took a few steps. "It feels like I'm wearing a harness. What's it for?"

"You remember how you'd carry me piggyback and run really fast?" Tails said. "This is so you can carry somebody without their arms and legs getting tired."

"Oh, I get it," said Sonic. "It's a hedgehog saddle!"

"Yeah!"

Sonic plucked at a strap. "Want to try it out?"

Tails's face lit up, and he climbed onto Sonic's back, slipping his arms and legs through loops in the harness. "I also made a seatbelt back here," said Tails, fastening it around his waist. "But if you spindash, whoever's back here gets ground to hamburger."

"I'll keep that in mind," said Sonic. He walked out of the shop, carrying Tails on his back, and jogged down the street. "This is like wearing you as a backpack." Before Tails could respond, Sonic reached the end of the street and opened the throttle.

Sonic decided to test the strength of his harness, so he raced across the fields and plunged into the woods, weaving between the trees at eighty miles an hour. Tails clung to Sonic instinctively, harness notwithstanding. The leather stretched and creaked, but it fit so snugly it did not chafe.

Sonic ran back to New Mobitropolis, but stopped a short distance from the road to cool down and let Tails recover.

"Helmet," panted the fox. "Forgot about wind speed."

"Helmet?" said Sonic, walking and glad Tails was so light. "Wasn't I careful to dodge all the brush?"

"Yeah, but I can't breathe when you go that fast," said Tails. "I don't know how you do."

"I never thought about it," said Sonic with a shrug. "I didn't come out here to test your inventions, you know."

"You didn't?" said Tails, feigning shock.

"Knux needs a chaos emerald to derobotize Zeff. Any ideas on tracking one down?"

Tails was quiet a moment. "I have a tracker, but it's not very strong. You'd have to be within fifty feet, and that doesn't help much. We had the emeralds in the village so long I never built a stronger one."

"Could you build a stronger one? Maybe one that could distinguish colors?"

"What color do you need?"

"Green."

Tails was silent a few minutes as Sonic walked onto the road and turned toward town. "You know, you should ask Sally."

"Why Sally?" said Sonic. Tails didn't answer. Sonic turned his head, trying to see the fox's face. Tails was smiling. "What? What about Sally?"

"I promised not to tell," said Tails.

Sonic's eyes narrowed. "I could go find her, and you'd have to go with me."

"No, don't!" Tails fumbled with the harness. "Let me down. I need to get back to Gus."

"Yeah, right," said Sonic, but he let Tails dismount. "And take the saddle off, will you? It's hot."

"Will do." Tails unclasped the harness and pulled it off. "I think I need to make the padding wider, it was digging into me." He grinned at Sonic. "See you later."

"Yeah," said Sonic, peering at him. "You sure you meant Sally?"

Tails only winked and walked off.


	2. Chapter 2

The village of Carrotseed was a quiet place, built on the plains of Central Mobius. With the ocean to three sides and the mountains of North Mobius to the north, it had temperate weather and was good farm country. In the ports ships came and went, and the occasional human vessel arrived with goods to trade, but inland life was quiet.

A few miles north of Carrotseed was a private airbase. It was ringed with barbed wire fences and patrolled constantly by guard robots. No one cared to venture close, although lately the tailfins of huge aircraft had begun to tower into the sky. Smaller aircraft constantly flew in with supplies and materials.

This had been going on for eight years, and the inhabitants of the land roundabout had ceased to pay attention to it. Giant ships were always being built-the last one was a monstrous airborne aircraft carrier.

Thus it was that when a single robot crept out of the airbase and attacked Carrotseed, the inhabitants were taken by surprise.

It was a red robot patterned after an echidna, and it proceeded in a leisurely fashion, killing anyone it caught, and torching houses and stores with a flame-thrower mounted in one arm. It laughed at the local police and ignored their warning laser blasts.

A young rabbit and her mother ran from their home and fled into the fields. The mother carried a homemade rail gun over one shoulder, and the daughter carried a chao in one arm. The two ran hand in hand, their town rising in smoke behind them. Once they stopped for breath, and the young rabbit looked back with wide eyes. "Mom, what about everybody else? Will they be okay?"

"Yes honey," her mother reassured her, but she loaded the rail gun with one hand. "We're going to the field warren, we'll be safe there."

They jogged on, often looking over their shoulders. The chao clung to his young mistress without a sound, but he felt the air around them crackling with chaos energy. Both rabbits were upset, the young one especially. He tried to calm her, but today her aura was too intense for him. He hoped there were no machines in the field warren.

They arrived at a dry irrigation ditch with a high bank on the far side. Dug into the bank were three large holes, and the rabbits dove into them. They followed the main tunnel down to a wide cavern, and there they paused to rest. There were no lights, but the young rabbit's chaos aura was so strong she was surrounded by a faint yellow glow.

"Cream," said her mother, "you need to calm down."

"Mom, I'm scared," squeaked the rabbit. Her mother sat down on the floor and laid the rail gun aside. Cream climbed into her lap, holding her chao. Eva could feel the chaos tingling inside her daughter like electricity, and knew that if Cream did not calm down, she might make the burrow collapse on their heads.

Eva held Cream and rocked back and forth, humming. Slowly the anxious yellow glow faded, and darkness enfolded them.

"I wish Daddy was here," whispered Cream.

"Your Dad's on a business trip," said Eva. "He won't be happy about this, I'm sure." She continued to rock and hum.

Had the pair lived three hundred years earlier, they would have been considered witches or chaos warriors. But because of modern science, everyone knew that Eva's body absorbed the local chaos field. On the opposite end of the spectrum, Cream emitted chaos energy in huge amounts, and she had been banned from touching a computer since birth. In a desperate attempt to regulate her power, her parents adopted a chao for her. This chao developed the ability to moderate Cream's disruptions, and as long as he was with her, Cream could enter the same room as electronics equipment without breaking anything.

As she rocked, Eva kept one ear tuned for any suspicious noises from the entrance. Her ears did not stand up very well, for she was a 'lop', but she could prop one up if she needed to listen. Her daughter had inherited her lop-ears, but one of her ears could stand up like her father's.

Footsteps outside. Eva carefully laid Cream on the floor, noting with relief that she had fallen asleep. The chao stirred, and Eva whispered, "Watch her, Cheese." She picked up the rail gun and flicked a switch to charge it, then she slipped up the tunnel toward the entrance.

Cheese sat in the stuffy darkness within the burrow, snuggled against Cream, but listening for sounds from above. For a while all was dead silence. Then he heard the shriek of the rail gun fairing, and a muffled shout from outside. Then nothing.

The chao sat in the darkness beside his mistress, torn between loyalty to Cream and longing to know what had happened outside. Eva didn't come back.

A little later Cream awoke. Cheese was sitting inside one of her enormous ears, and she knew he was keeping watch. "Cheese?" she yawned. "Where's Mom?"

"I think she went back to help," said Cheese, keeping an eye on Cream's aura. The chaos field was visible to him, and he saw it as a colored mist hovering around people. His young mistress had a strong one, and it changed colors and swirled according to her moods. Right now it was small and moving slowly.

"By the way," said Cheese, "today my name is Monty."

"Your name is Cheese," said Cream, shaking him out of her ear and swinging it over her shoulder.

"Yes, but what kind of cheese?" said the chao, folding his stubby arms. "Mozzarella? Cheddar? Swiss?"

"Monterey Jack," said Cream, grinning.

"Right," said the chao. "So call me Monty."

"You change your name too much," said Cream. "And you don't look like a Monty."

"I don't look like a cheese, either! I'm the wrong color."

"There's blue cheese..."

"Oh, can it."

"Do you hear something?" Cream pricked up her strong ear. "Something's outside. It's walking around."

Cheese-or Monty-listened, but couldn't hear anything. Cream got up and felt her way toward the entrance. Monty hung back. "Cream, don't go up there. What if it's that robot hunting for us?"

"It might be Mom," said Cream. "I just want to look out. Is there anything wrong with that?"

"You might get spotted," grumbled Monty, but he followed her up the tunnel.

The irrigation ditch was empty. Cream crouched and listened, her strong ear swiveling this way and that like a satellite dish. Monty pressed up behind her and peered out, nervously stroking and soothing her aura to keep it quiet.

"Do you feel anything?" she whispered.

"Yes," he whispered back. "Somebody's really close."

Cream poked her head out of the burrow to look up and down the ditch, and gasped. A short way up the ditch was a fallen figure. "Chee-I mean Monty, look!"

The chao crawled out and followed her gaze. "Uh oh!"

"He's not a robot, is he?"

"No," said Monty, squinting. He had been afraid that Eva had been hurt, but that figure was too big for Eva. As they watched it, it rocked to and fro and moaned in pain.

"It's a survivor!" exclaimed Cream, and bolted from the burrow.

Monty ran after her. "Cream, wait! There might be blood!"

The figure was a burly fox in armor, and he had been shot in the stomach. There was blood all right, and Cream gasped and turned her back-she turned faint over a paper cut, and this was much worse.

But Monty was made of stronger stuff, and he looked closely at the dying fox. The size of the wound made it look like he had been shot by a rail gun. But why? Was he an enemy? As Monty watched, a shred of Cream's chaos aura tore free and was sucked into the fox.

"Monty, what are you looking at?" asked Cream. "I want to go back to the burrow."

"He's absorbing your aura," said the chao. "I've never seen that before."

"He's what?" said Cream, turning around and looking at the fox.

The fox's eyes opened, and for a moment he gazed up at the rabbit above him. She returned his gaze, speechless. He held out one gloved hand and whispered, "Please help me."

Cream thought he wanted to get up, so she grabbed his hand and tried to lift him. "Don't touch him!" cried Monty, but he was too late. The fox seized Cream's hand in both of his and clung to her, gasping.

"Let go!" squealed Cream. "You're hurting me!"

Monty watched as Cream's aura flamed up in greenish-yellow shades of terror, and was sucked into the fox like water into a sponge. The terrible wound in his belly began to heal. "Monty, help me!" cried Cream, trying to break out of the fox's grasp.

"Wait a minute!" said Monty, running to her. "He's absorbing your chaos field and healing himself! Look!" Cream saw the wound was closing. In a few more seconds it had closed and only a jagged scar remained.

The fox opened his eyes and released Cream's hand. She sprang away and stood watching him from a safe distance. The fox sat up and rubbed his stomach. He wore armor over his upper torso, but had been shot just where it ended. "I'm alive," he said, marveling. He climbed to his feet and said, "Thank you, young lady." In the same breath, he looked up at the sky and said, "And thank you for sending her to me."

"I heard a sound, and I came to look," said Cream. "Are you from Carrotseed?"

"No," said the fox. "But I saw what happened. I was pursuing the robot when I was intercepted by friendly fire." He rubbed his middle again. "I'm Destro."

"I'm Cream," said the rabbit, "and this is my chao, Monty Jack Cheese."

Monty was more interested in Destro's wound. "Friendly fire, you said?"

"Yes," said Destro, looking down. "She fired just as I passed in front of the robot."

Cream blanched. "It was my mom, wasn't it?"

Destro shrugged and turned away. "I must be going. Farewell, Cream and Monty."

"No, wait!" said Cream, but she was interrupted as Monty gave a cry of terror. Cream spun around and gasped. Standing on top of the bank was the killer robot, its green eyes glittering in malice.

Cream snatched up her chao and backed away, her aura flaming yellow with violet borders and flecks-fear bordering on hysteria. The robot sprang off the bank, landed on the floor of the ditch, and paced toward her like a hungry panther. "Destro!" Cream cried.

The robot paused, its eyes focusing on the fox behind her. The armored fox walked up behind Cream, and she heard a ringing rasp as he drew his sword. "Be gone, monster."

The robot crouched and brandished the eight-inch spikes welded to its fists. "You want to fight me hand to hand?" it hissed.

Destro stepped in front of Cream, who retreated, clutching Monty and watching, wide-eyed. Destro did not answer.

"Very well," said the robot. "I haven't had a good hand to hand fight in a while." It sprang forward. Destro swung, and there was a crash of sparks. The robot whirled and slashed with both claws at Destro, who parried the blows with his blade.

Suddenly the robot leaped away and stood still a second, its head turned as if listening. Then it said, "Consider our little battle postponed." It fired up its engines and rocketed out of the ditch. They listened to it fade into the distance, and Destro re-sheathed his sword. He turned to Cream, just as she ran to him and flung her arms around his waist, sobbing.

* * *

Sonic looked through the window into Sally's hut. She was still hunched over her desk, head in one hand, filling out paperwork. He knocked on the window frame.

"What, Sonic?" she asked without looking up.

"Get a secretary," said Sonic. "Can I come in?"

"No," said Sally, so Sonic opened the door and walked in.

"I need a way to track chaos emeralds, and Tails said to ask you about it."

Sally studied him. "Why do you need to track a chaos emerald?"

"Knux is trying to derobotize Zephyer, and he needs the green one to keep her alive," said Sonic.

Sally gazed at him a long moment, then said, "You mean it'll kill her to derobotize her?"

"That's what Knux thinks."

Sally looked down at her papers and sighed. "I knew I'd have to show it to you someday." She opened a drawer in her desk and removed a small box. She opened it and took out various parts, and assembled them with the ease of long practice.

Sonic watched over her shoulder. "What is that?"

"Rotor built this for me after you got your belt, and later Tails modified it to utilize a satellite," said Sally. "This is a tracking device for chaos energy." The squirrel smiled at the look of shock on Sonic's face. "I had to keep tabs on you somehow, since I wasn't going on missions with you anymore."

"Why didn't you ever tell me about it?" yelped Sonic.

"I know you," said Sally. "You'd brag that your friends had built the most powerful emerald tracker on Mobius, and a week later you'd have treasure hunters lined up to steal it."

"I won't tell anybody about it," said Sonic. "How does it work?"

"I have to plug in Nicole," said Sally. She removed her battered palmtop computer from a drawer, and plugged Nicole's input slot into a port on the side of the tracker. The tracker itself was a flat box with a screen, and a little satellite dish mounted on one end. "Nicole," said Sally, "uplink to local satellite using chaos tracker."

"Affirmative, Sally," said the computer. The little dish swiveled back and forth until it located a signal, then Nicole announced, "Connection established."

"We're online, Sonic," said Sally. "What do you want to see?"

"The location of the green chaos emerald," said Sonic. "I'm worried they're in orbit or jumped dimensions or something."

"Locate green chaos emerald by field signature," said Sally. As the computer worked, she said, "All the emeralds affect Mobius's chaos field differently. When we had all of them here, I logged each signature, so now I'll be able to distinguish each emerald."

"You hope."

"I hope." Sally frowned at the screen as a blip appeared along the left edge. "Oh rats."

"What?" said Sonic. "Is that it?"

"Yes," said Sally, typing a few commands on Nicole. The blip enlarged, and an outline of a continent appeared around it.

"Where's that?" said Sonic.

"Central Mobius," said Sally. "It's not on West Mobius at all."

"I've never been there," said Sonic. "Do they speak New Mobian?"

"They probably speak Borese," said Sally. "The rest of the northies do, but I'm sure we can find a translator if we need to communicate."

"We?" said Sonic. "You're going with me?"

"Oh," said Sally, looking at her papers. "I'm sorry Sonic, I slipped back into my old mission-planning mode. I can't go."

"Come on, Sal," said Sonic. "If you stay in here much longer you'll become a hunchback, and that wouldn't be very popular."

Sally gestured to her desk. "I have to get this done. It's the zoning regulations and ownership deeds for New Mobitropolis, and I have to get it cleared up before the rebuilding can start."

"Sal," said Sonic, leaning toward her, "read my lips. Get. A. Secretary."

"Sonic, this is my responsibility," said Sally, looking weary. "Being a princess isn't just wearing a crown and sitting on a throne, you know. I've got to be a politician now."

Sonic spun around, walked to the wall, and turned back. "So you're going to spend the rest of your life inside a cage, and you're not going to do anything about it?"

"What can I do?" said Sally. "I'm the last heir to the throne. I have to do this. I've been doing it for years already."

"Just run away!" said Sonic. "Go someplace they'd never find you!"

"Not everyone can run away, Sonic. Some people have to stay put and run things, and I'm one of those people."

"Change the laws," said Sonic. "Make it a democracy like the human colonies have."

Sally only shook her head. "You can't change laws that easily."

Sonic paced in a circle, his strides jerky with anger. It infuriated him to see Sally accept chains that he didn't think she needed to wear. He spun to face her. "Fine. Stay here and become a politician. But come with me on one last mission, please?"

The question hung in the air. Sally gazed at him for a long moment, then looked at her stacks of unfinished work. Slowly she looked at Sonic again. "How long would we be gone?"

He grinned-he'd won the battle. "Not more than a week. We can take the Cyclone, fly out to Central Mobius-shouldn't take more than two days-find the emerald in two or three days, and fly home. Easy."

Sally stood up and began to disassemble the tracker. "You don't instill me with a lot of confidence, Sonic. When do you want to leave? I can pack in twenty minutes."

"Let me check out the Cyclone," said Sonic, and left the hut at a run.

He had a week with Sally-one precious week to spend time with her before the courses of their lives split them apart. As he skidded onto the airstrip, he realized he didn't want that to happen. He and Sally had been a team through the dark Freedom Fighter years, and lately he had neglected her to go off on his own adventures. And he had all but lost her.

Sonic vaulted into the biplane's cockpit and checked the fuel levels. Fully-fueled; Tails always kept the tanks full in case he wanted to fly somewhere, which he did at least once a week. Sonic did a bit of flying, himself, to keep his pilot's license current.

Sonic leaned one elbow on the plane's seat and gazed at the throttle. After this week was over, Sally would return to her government position forever, and Sonic would be merely a bystander. She might make him captain of the guard or something, but that wasn't what he wanted. He wanted things to stay the same-but they couldn't. New Mobitropolis was being rebuilt. The monarchy would pull itself together. Knothole would become a historic ghost town in the woods. Sally would marry some suitable rich snob, and that would be the end of it. Sonic would be left to himself with nothing but his speed and a few fans to his name.

He would have to do something really drastic to keep this dismal vision from coming true. Like marry Sally. He laughed at himself. After what he had seen of her determination to take on the mantle of ruler, she would either refuse him or marry him and make him king. King Sonic. The very thought of the title made his flesh creep. He would be forced to do all the things Sally was doing-be a politician-and spend the rest of his life entombed indoors as his speed and energy withered away.

NO!

He jumped out of the biplane and stood beside it, panting as if he had escaped a deathtrap. He turned and gazed at the tail section, where his name was painted in black letters. He traced the S with one finger. S for Solitude. He didn't want to lose Sally forever. But marrying her meant giving up everything else that he loved, and he couldn't choose between them. Not yet.

Sonic gazed at the trees ringing the airstrip. A bit of preparation wouldn't hurt.

* * *


	3. Chapter 3

In Central Mobius, the fires in Carrotseed were being extinguished, and the villagers ran around, looking out in terror for the fearsome red robot.

A mile from town, a fox in battered armor and a young rabbit with a chao were walking along a dirt trail through a carrot field. As far as the eye could see were rows and rows of ferny green growth. From time to time Cream would turn aside, pull a carrot from the ground, clean it off and eat it. "You want some?" she asked Destro, offering him a small carrot. "The little ones are the sweetest."

Destro took the carrot and ate it without speaking.

Cream watched him. "Is it sweet?"

"Yes."

For the past hour, all Cream could get out of him were "yes" and "no". When she had run to him, crying in the aftermath of her terror, Destro had turned to stone. He was taking her back to Carrotseed and would scarcely speak to her.

"I think you scared him," whispered Monty in her ear. The chao had eaten so many carrots his mouth was stained orange.

"How did I scare him?" whispered Cream.

"You hugged him."

"Hugs aren't scary."

"Well, he didn't like it. He acts like he's mad at you."

"I'll ask him." Cream looked up at Destro. "Are you mad at me?"

"No," said Destro, looking straight ahead.

"Because Monty thinks you're mad at me," said Cream. "Because I hugged you. Are you afraid of hugs?"

Destro didn't answer.

"Well, ARE you?" asked Cream shrilly.

The fox looked at her, and his glass eye flashed in the sun. Cream recoiled-she had not noticed his artificial eye before. "It's been a long time since anyone's hugged me."

Cream stared at him. "What happened to your eye?"

Destro looked away and didn't answer.

Monty elbowed Cream, but she was too fascinated to drop the subject. "Is it robotic? Can you zoom it in? Can you see in the dark?"

"No," said Destro. "It contains targeting systems and readouts."

"Oh." Cream nibbled the stump of a carrot in her hand. "Are we there yet?"

Monty lifted his head. Throughout this one-sided conversation he had kept an eye on the chaos field around them. Cream's was swirling and pink, as it was when she was in a good mood. Once in a while playful surges shot out toward the ground or Destro, and Monty caught them and pulled them back with his own small aura. Just because Cream was happy didn't mean that rocks, leaves and passersby should fly around.

Destro's armor was no longer absorbing chaos energy, but from time to time little ripples of power passed over him, usually when Cream asked him a question. Monty admired Destro's control. Destro had a natural aura, like most Mobians. But unlike Mobians, Destro kept his entire aura locked away within himself, showing his iron self-control.

But now Monty felt a wave of disturbance roll over them, making Cream's aura wave like kelp in an ocean tide. He looked around and saw a vortex of energy sweeping toward them over the carrot field like a purple tornado. Monty had never seen anything like that before, and sat up straight. "Cream! Destro! Something really bad is coming this way, and it's really, really bad!"

"The robot," said Destro, and started to draw his sword. Then he looked at Cream and Monty and hesitated.

Monty looked at him. "He's got a chaos vortex with him. I have no idea what that'll do, so I think we'd better run."

"Right," said Destro. He re-sheathed his sword and scooped up Cream. "Hold on," he said, and she put her arms around his neck. The armor on Destro's back unfolded and expanded to form a rocket pack, which ignited with a tearing roar. Destro shot into the sky, a visor automatically unfolding from his helmet. Cream was crushed against his armored chest by centrifugal force, and couldn't breathe until Destro leveled out.

Monty was clinging to her. "This-is-so-cool," he gasped.

"Still see the vortex?" said Destro.

Monty peeked over Destro's shoulder. "Yes, but it's shrinking. I think we lost him."

"Good," said Destro, and kept flying.

It wasn't until later that Jack wondered why Destro believed his warning about the chaos field when most other Mobians had no idea what he was talking about. Being the only person able to see the chaos field was lonely business.

* * *

Zephyer stopped at the top of a ladder leading up to the platforms of Eagle's Nest, and leaned on the railing. She was panting from the climb, which seemed a little harder every day. It was the metal she was packing around; it was heavy and oppressive, and hauling it up and down the ladders was wearing her out.

When she had caught her breath, she walked along the creaking walkway to the big circular room where Knuckles was working on the derobotizer. She paused outside the door and listened. All was quiet. She turned the knob and opened the door, peering around for Knuckles. The room was in shambles, as usual. The experimental lens and extractor was set up where the derobotizer had been, and she guessed Knuckles had been trying a new setting. The floor around it was covered in scorch marks and a grimy, fluffy stuff she realized was fire-retardant foam. So it had caught fire this time. If this kept up, Knuckles would run out of biometal to experiment on. There were only a few biotics left, for the rest had already biodegraded too much to use.

She gazed at the mess on the floor with a sinking heart, and regretted agreeing to marry him. If Knuckles didn't kill himself trying to make the machine work, then he would kill her trying to derobotize her. Maybe she should ask him to break off the engagement.

Brooding, Zephyer left the derobotizer room. The next place to look for him was the little library, where donated and salvaged books were kept. Knuckles had been doing tons of research, trying to figure out a formula that would break down the biometal into non-hazardous components.

She opened the door and stepped into the library. The walls on the east and west sides were solid windows, and the rest of the walls were lined with shelves of books. A table had been set up in the middle of the room, and here Knuckles had spread his chemistry and nano technology books. He was bent over them now, scribbling in a notebook, the image of an echidnaen mad scientist.

Zephyer crossed to another chair in the corner and sat down, not wanting to disturb him. She idly picked up a book from a box at her feet and thumbed through it. It was a kid's novel and contained the occasional illustration of a Mobian collie who had a human boy as a pet. The idea turned Zephyer's stomach, and she put the book down.

Knuckles laid his pencil down and massaged his forehead. "Hi Zephyer."

"Hi Knux." For some reason Zephyer was suddenly shy. "What're you working on?"

"New formula," said Knuckles. He had a maniac gleam in his eyes. "Metal Sonic invented this biometal, so I should be smart enough to figure out how he did it."

"You're taking on Metal Sonic by doing this, I see," said Zephyer. She looked down at her clasped hands. "Maybe we should call off the engagement."

Knuckles looked at her, startled. "What? Why?"

Zephyer kept her eyes on her hands. "I don't want you to kill yourself over this."

"I'm not going to kill myself," said Knuckles, standing up and stretching. "I'll crack the code. I mean, I've built robots more complicated than this darned biometal technology."

Zephyer looked up. "You're trying to figure out how to keep me alive, aren't you?"

Knuckles looked at her a long moment, then walked to her, took her hands and pulled her to her feet. "Zeff," he said, "there's always a risk involved. I'm trying to find a way to minimize the risk."

"Don't be diplomatic, it doesn't suit you," said Zephyer, smiling in spite of herself. "Spill it, Echidna."

Knuckles smiled a little. "All right. Building biometal is easy. Taking it apart isn't. Right now the machine sees no difference between metal and flesh."

Zephyer went cold. The image flashed through her mind of being liquefied, and the library whirled. She sank back into the chair and held her head. "Are you all right?" Knuckles asked, then he growled, "I knew I shouldn't have told you."

"No, I'm okay," said Zephyer, coming to herself with an effort. "I shouldn't have asked." Her heart was racing, and her fingertips tingled.

Knuckles watched her a moment. "When did you eat last?"

Uh oh.

"Um, I don't know," said Zephyer. "Breakfast?"

Knuckles's lips pressed into a line. "Come on, Zephyer, don't do this to me." He knelt in front of her chair. "You have to keep eating, you understand?"

Zephyer glared at him. "It's none of your business if I eat or not."

"Yes it is!" snapped Knuckles. "It's called Robotization Trauma Syndrome, when you stop eating and die. You're not going to die on me, okay?"

"Okay," said Zephyer. "I don't plan on dying, it's just that lately all food smells foul to me."

A muscle flexed in Knuckles's jaw. "I'll see what I can do." He started to get up, but knelt down again. "Look Zeff, we're engaged. We've made a deal that if I can derobotize you, you'll marry me. I want to add another condition to that."

Zephyer raised her eyebrows. "Oh?"

Knuckles's eyes were intense. "That you keep yourself in good condition by eating regularly. If you starve yourself, you WILL die when we get the metal off. Understand?"

"Yes." Zephyer looked down at herself and hated her metal all over again.

Knuckles rose and returned to his books. Zephyer remained in her chair. Despite her humiliation, there was no place she would rather be than with Knuckles, even if they didn't talk. She began to take books from the open box and place them on an empty shelf.

She was thus engaged when the door opened and Sonic's head poked in. "Hi Knux, hi Zeff," he said. "Zeff, can I ask you something real quick?"

"Sure," said Zephyer, rising and walking out to him. He motioned for her to step outside, and she did. Sonic shut the door, checked to make sure they were alone, then said quietly, "What did you do with those rings Knuckles made for you?"

"They're in my apartment here," said Zephyer, cocking an eyebrow. "Why?"

"I want to borrow one." Sonic's eyes were everywhere but on her.

"Sonic," said Zephyer, grinning. "Have we given you ideas?"

"Ideas about what?" said Sonic, staring at the wall.

"You and Sally," said Zephyer. "You've been friends an awfully long time..."

Sonic examined the railing. "I just want to borrow a ring. Sally and I are going off to track a chaos emerald, and I ... I wanted to have a ring handy."

"Uh huh," said Zephyer, watching him. She had never seen Sonic so twitchy. "I'll let you borrow one, but you can't have the red one."

"I wanted a blue one, actually," said Sonic, following her down the plank walkway. "I don't have time to buy one or I would. We're leaving in ten minutes."

"We'd better hurry, then," said Zephyer. She reached a tree house with three apartment rooms, opened a door and ushered Sonic in. The room was tiny, with a bed, a bureau, and a mirror on the wall. On top of the bureau was a cardboard box, which Zephyer picked up and held out to Sonic. He glanced in and snatched out a ring with a blue stone.

"Great," he said, yanking off his glove and sticking it on his own finger. He pulled the glove back over it and said, "She'll never suspect a thing."

As he turned to go, Zephyer said, "She loves you, right?"

"Sure," said Sonic. "Everybody loves me."

"You haven't been very nice to her," said Zephyer, following him out the door. "You'd better work hard to be nice, or she'll turn you down flat."

"How do you know?" said Sonic, looking half-scornful half-worried.

"I talk to her, unlike some people I could mention."

Sonic winced. "Point taken. See you in a week." He dashed off down the boardwalk, and Zephyer leaned against the wall for a moment. Maybe she should take Knuckles's advice and eat a little more often.

* * *


	4. Chapter 4

The red robot was hunting Cream, Destro was sure of it. Every time they tried to double back to Carrotseed, the robot appeared and tried to catch them. Monty the chao always saw the robot coming because of something in the chaos field. Destro could feel changes in the field itself sometimes, but he could not see them the way Monty did.

They were driven further and further from Cream's home, Destro using his rocket pack when the robot drew too close. He didn't like to use it so much; it drained the energy out of his armor, which drew power from his body. He knew the chao could see the transferring power, because sometimes Monty's eyes would follow something as it traveled along Destro's body. Destro wondered what chaos power looked like, but didn't ask. Over the years of solitude his natural shyness had become a silent mask. He did not speak to anyone except when absolutely necessary.

Thus he found Cream's chatter unnerving and irritating. She talked constantly, and he wondered if she had a single thought in her head she did not speak aloud. He heard about her mother and her father, who worked far away, and her crazy uncle who was also really funny, and her grandma who hated her dad, and the place where they got Monty, and the school she went to, and her teacher there.

The sun was sinking by this time, and Destro was thinking about finding shelter for the night. It was early spring, and the nights were cold. Destro usually slept under a tree somewhere, but he doubted that Cream would survive a night in the open with the robot hunting her.

They came to a farmhouse with a cellar dug in the ground a short distance from the back door. As darkness descended, Destro led Cream and Monty to the cellar, and they snuck down inside it.

Cream was sleepy and full of carrots, so she curled up on the earthen floor and fell asleep at once. Destro examined the cellar. It was lined with shelves on which were stacked jars of preserves and canned vegetables. The cellar door latched from the outside, so Destro took up his vigil at the foot of the steps. Monty, who had accompanied Destro on his tour of inspection, asked, "Will that robot be able to find us?"

"I don't know," said Destro. "But I can feel when he's near."

"I know, your aura sways with Cream's," said Monty. "And I thought Cream distorted the chaos field!"

Destro was silent a moment, then said, "It must be able to feel her."

Monty shivered. "If you feel it coming, wake me up."

"Yes." Destro watched as the chao walked to his young mistress, turned over one of her ears, and curled up inside it. Their combined breathing became slow and even.

Destro reached behind him and flicked a switch on his armor to let the batteries rest, and closed his eyes. Inside his bionic eye he opened a file containing the sacred writings of the religious code he followed. Reading it helped clear his mind of all the distractions of the day, and he quietly asked his God, the Lightgiver, if he should continue to protect this child. He knew what the answer would be before it came.

"Yes. Your paths crossed for a reason."

"Shall I fight the robot that is hunting her?"

"No. Journey south to a place I will show you."

"Thank you." The Lightgiver had been Destro's only companion for so long that communicating with him was second nature. It was sort of like telepathy, but Destro had to keep his mind pure in order to do it-the Lightgiver could not illuminate a darkened mind.

Destro wished he could fight the robot, for long ago he had sworn to eliminate evil from the world wherever he found it, but the Lightgiver had other ideas. Sometimes he would direct Destro to attack an enemy, but at other times he was to avoid an encounter, or flee, as now. But over the years Destro had seen these odd instructions lead to amazing victories, and so he was prepared to continue running from the robot for Cream's sake.

Destro let himself doze, his armor taking on a dark, dull color to blend with the wall. But he kept a part of himself awake, waiting for that silent roll of power that preceded the robot.

* * *

In West Mobius it had been night for three hours. Sally was wearing a coat and goggles in the passenger seat of the Cyclone, but she was shivering, partly exposed to the wind. The Cyclone had been converted to attack mode for extra speed, and Sonic was in the pilot's seat, navigating and occasionally swigging from a thermos of coffee. Because of the wind and engine noise all talking had to be conducted at a yell, and Sally was too sleepy to bother. She slouched down in the seat, thankful for the floor heater Tails had installed, and closed her eyes.

Even the prospect of riding in a small plane for two days was more welcoming than the hours of paperwork that awaited her. She had done nothing for a month but fill out forms, and the thought of the boxes of papers under her desk made her want to cry. But she had to make the best of it. Eventually she would finish, and life would resume. The years of being a Freedom Fighter had taught her to put the best face on everything. If she could fake confidence in the midst of a trying situation, then those looking up to her would also be confident.

But Sonic always saw through her. Just as he had seen through her that morning with his comment about living in a cage. It was the same metaphor that had been growing in her own mind; living forever indoors, bent over books while all outdoors was crying out to her. She had lied to Sonic about having done this sort of thing for years-what she did best was plan tactical moves and mission objectives, and encourage downcast refugees. She was a military commander, not a queen, and making the transition was killing her by inches.

Sally lifted her face and inhaled the chilly air, which contained the scent of the sea. This was the kind of mission she liked, with plenty of outdoor work involved. The emerald tracker was tucked inside her coat to protect it from the dew, and she touched its square edge under the fabric of her coat. This was no military mission; it was a treasure hunt.

Her thoughts wandered to Knuckles and Zephyer, and of the hours she and Zephyer had spent talking. Zephyer was terrified of the duel prospect of derobotization and marriage, and needed lots of counseling. During the process Sally and Zephyer had become good friends, and Sally received some counseling of her own. Zephyer had the unexpected knack for encouragement, and Sally had received the extra energy she needed to continue working.

Sally thought wistfully of the look in Zephyer's eyes when she talked about Knuckles, as if he was a movie star who Zephyer was permitted to spend time with. There had been a time when Sally felt the same way about Sonic, but he had remained cocky and indifferent. He had gone off and done his own thing, and gradually Sally had accepted this and buried herself in her work. There was no point in wasting time on Sonic when he viewed her only as a friend. But her heart didn't want to believe it, and she harbored the hope that someday Sonic would return to her. Now if only they could get a chance to talk! She had so much to ask him about, like the Mekion incident, which Sally had heard about second-hand. Sonic never talked about it...

Hours later Sally opened her eyes. A dim light was growing in the sky behind them, and the stars hung low and heavy. Sonic was hunched over the control stick, and a dim landmass had appeared on the ocean to the right. "Sonic," called Sally, "where are we?"

"Patuxet islands, I think," Sonic called back. "The airport's got us in a holding pattern. You doing okay?"

"Kind of stiff, but okay," said Sally, stretching as much as possible in a cramped space. "How's fuel?"

"I have a quarter of a tank," said Sonic. "We're good for another hour. Tails's planes get good mileage, that's for sure."

The pair fell silent. It took too much effort to compete with the Cyclone's engine.

Ten minutes later Sonic received clearance to land, and circled in to land at the island airport. Sonic wanted to refuel and fly on, but Sally objected. "We've been flying since noon yesterday. How much longer do you think you'll stay awake?"

"Two hours," said Sonic with a grin.

They checked into a small hotel outside the airport, and took two rooms. Sonic crashed and slept without stirring for three hours, but Sally bathed and tinkered with the emerald tracker. There were no chaos emeralds on the Patuxet islands, but here and there she picked up people with strong chaos auras. Maybe such a thing was more common here than on West Mobius. At home she could sweep the whole continent and only Sonic's aura would pick up. Perhaps it had something to do with the equalization of the chaos field after the flux.

She searched for the green emerald again and charted its location. She zoomed in with the satellite and sketched out a map on a piece of paper, jotting notes about other deceptive pockets of chaos energy. As she worked she kept an eye on the hazy blip that was the green emerald, so she saw when the blip flickered and died.

"What in the world?" Sally murmured. "Nicole, reacquire location of green chaos emerald."

"Working, Sally," said the computer. The screen redrew itself, and there was the emerald signal again. As Sally watched, the signal strengthened, then weakened to nothing, then strengthened again. What in the world was going on down there? The chaos field must be unstable. But this was the green emerald, the most stable of the seven! Just in case, Sally scanned for other emeralds in the vicinity, but picked up nothing. Unless her signal tracking was wrong, the green emerald was in the midst of a field distortion.

"Nicole," said Sally, "bring up all available data on the chaos emeralds."

"Working, Sally," said Nicole. "A file already exists in my databank. Shall I open it?"

"Yes," said Sally, and read the text that appeared on the screen. The file was a compressed mess of research data she had gathered for Knuckles. Now she scrolled through it, eyes narrowed. It only confirmed what she already knew: the red emerald was the most unstable, the green was the most stable, and the rest ranged between them.

Sally was tweaking her settings and reconfiguring the tracker when the adjoining door opened and Sonic looked in. "Sal? You ready to go?"

"I'm ready when you are," she said.

"Great," said Sonic, walking in with a comb in one hand. "What're you working on?"

"The emerald is causing a field distortion," said Sally. "Look at the screen, it's changing power levels every second."

Sonic peered at the tracker screen, combing his quills. "It's not supposed to fade out like that, is it?"

"No," said Sally. "This is the GREEN emerald."

Sonic lowered his comb and frowned. "Uh oh. It's acting like the red one."

"Yes."

The two exchanged worried glances.

"This will be interesting," said Sonic. "Grab your stuff, we're burning daylight." He made for the door as Sally put away the tracker and slung her backpack over one shoulder.

* * *

Destro awoke with his sword half-drawn, fur bristling. Something was in the cellar with him, and it-wait a second. Nestled against his side was Cream with Monty asleep in the hollow of one of her ears. Destro relaxed and re-sheathed his sword. When his armor had been plugged into his body, Destro had lost all sense of touch in those areas. The few bits of himself that still had feeling were super-sensitive, and anything that touched him unexpectedly became a pile of shreds seconds later.

He would wake Cream if he moved, so he sat still and let his senses tell him about his surroundings. A rooster crowed outside-morning was near. The chaos field was quiet. Not that it meant much-the last time the field had been quiet, it was minutes before the robot appeared with its wave of power. But nothing was happening at the moment, so Destro held a private discussion with the Lightgiver, who had been standing guard while Destro slept. His instructions were the same-keep moving south. Destro voiced his growing concern that he might be considered a kidnapper, taking Cream like this, and was told that Cream's mother knew what had happened and had delayed the robot that night.

This reassured Destro, who got up and opened the cellar door to check the time. The sky was flushed pink in the east, and the grass was heavy with dew. The chaos field remained quiet. Destro turned and looked at Cream. "Wake up, it's time to go."

Cream stirred and lifted her head. She sat up partway, her head turned because of Monty's weight in her ear. "Hi Destro. Did that robot come back?"

"No." Destro looked out the cellar door as the little rabbit untangled herself and woke her chao. Monty sat on the cold floor and blinked sleepily. "Ugh, I like sleeping in a bed better than camping."

"Me too," said Cream, looking in dismay at her soiled clothes. "Can we go home today, Destro?"

"No," said Destro, glancing at her. "The robot is still pursuing us, but last night your mother hindered him."

"Maybe Daddy's with her!" said Cream, her eyes lighting up. "I'll bet he came home when he heard about the robot coming, and now he's trying to stop it!"

Destro shrugged and didn't answer.

Minutes later they emerged from the cellar and cut across a field to a road leading south. On the far side of the road was a carrot field, and Cream helped herself to breakfast as they walked along. She offered some to Destro, who ate without comment.

Monty kept an eye on the chaos field. It was a vague haze that hung on the air and concentrated in hollows in the ground like low-lying fog, and the only movement was caused by Cream's crackling, burning aura. Today Destro's armor was absorbing chaos energy, and the tendrils Cream's aura sent out were sucked into it. Monty wondered if Destro knew about this, and after watching the fox for a while, decided he didn't. Maybe the armor itself needed the energy.

They walked for three hours, sometimes stopping so Cream could rest. There was no sign of pursuit, so Destro was willing to take it a little slower. He was tired from the frenzied pace of the day before, and his armor's power levels were low.

Near noon the road widened and cars began to come and go on the road. "Oh goody, this is Prairietown!" said Cream. "My aunt lives here, I only see her on holidays and my birthday."

Destro grunted. The sight of a town worried him-what if the robot tracked them here and destroyed this town the way it had Carrotseed? He asked the Lightgiver if this was the place to stop.

"No," the Lightgiver replied. "This is not the place."

"We won't stop here," said Destro.

"But I'm tired of walking!" whined Cream. "I want to see Aunt Peaches! Please please?"

"No," said Destro, laying his ears back.

Cream whined all the way through Prairietown, which consisted of a hundred dirt mounds with doors and tunnels in them. The bulk of the town was underground, and only a few prairie dogs hurried by on the surface now and then, waving to Destro, Cream and Monty.

As they left the town, a blue biplane swooped overhead and circled around to land at the little airstrip. Cream pointed and waved, and Destro squinted up at the plane. Single engine, two seats, laser cannons mounted on the underside of the wings. Who would arm a biplane when there were superior aircraft designs available? The biplane design was antique.

The biplane was wiped from Destro's mind as Monty cried, "Here comes the robot! Run! Run quick!"

Destro grabbed up Cream and broke into a gallop, Cream looking over his shoulder for a glimpse of the robot.

* * *

The biplane had been on the ground two seconds when Sally shouted, "Look!"

Sonic looked up to see two people run by, then Robo Knuckles fly past, his afterburner roaring. "Oh great!" exclaimed Sonic, "he must have been repaired! Stay here, Sal!" The hedgehog vaulted out of the cockpit and pelted after the robot.

"Sonic!" Sally called after him, but he was gone. "The plane's still moving," she muttered, climbing over the seat into the cockpit. The plane was taxiing toward the end of the runway. Sally guided it into the ploughed field ringing the airstrip, cut the engine, and blocked the tires, glad that all those years of driving transports had paid off.

By that time Sonic, the robot, and the two strangers were out of sight, so Sally set up her tracker. When she scanned for chaos distortions, it picked up three blotches. They were moving rapidly, and she had to pan the screen every few seconds to keep them in view. Sonic's distinctive signal was there, and Robo Knux had a strange one, like a spiral. The people he was chasing were so close together that Sally couldn't distinguish them on screen, but they were causing a bright emerald-like glow. Sally had not seen such a strong aura since Super Sonic.

She watched the progress of the blips, chewing her lip. Robo Knux was gaining on the civilians, and Sonic was gaining on Robo Knux. As she watched, Sonic put on a burst of speed and caught up to Robo Knux, who slowed and circled. The two clashed, parted, clashed again.

"Oh Sonic, be care!" whispered Sally. The spiral marking the robot worried her. Whenever a blotch of chaos was forced into a shape of any kind, it meant the person was controlling the field. Sonic let his field bleed all over the place, but Sally had seen Knuckles warp and bend his own when he needed an extra burst of energy. How could a robot possibly manipulate the field?

Sonic and Robo Knux's blips joined together, and for three seconds they grappled in close quarters, and Sally bit her thumbnail. Then Sonic's blip retreated and ran off at an angle, and Robo Knux followed him. Sally zoomed in on Sonic's signature, but there was nothing in it to indicate he was hurt. Sally watched, leaning against the biplane, hating her inability to help. If only she had some kind of natural ability! She watched as Sonic raced his enemy as only Sonic could, occasionally doubling back to throw a taunt in Robo Knux's face. Stupid brave Sonic, he could get killed doing that!

Sally watched as Sonic led the robot further and further a field, teasing and taunting, his chaos field growing bright with his excitement. Robo Knux's spiral coiled tighter and tighter like an angry rattlesnake. "Sonic, be careful!" Sally said to the tracker.

Sonic struck like lightning and ricocheted off Robo Knux, and Robo Knux's signature winked out. Sonic ran straight back toward Prairietown. Sally looked for the civilians Robo Knux had been chasing. Their signal was dimmer, and they were moving at a walking pace, three miles away. They must be fantastic runners to keep ahead of both Robo Knux and Sonic.

A few minutes later Sonic jogged up, his spines rumpled from battle. "Hi Sal!" he said. "Watching me with the tracker, huh?"

"Yes," said Sally, smiling and relieved to see him unhurt. "You shouldn't tease Robo Knux like that. His chaos signature was very controlled-he could have hurt you."

"I thought there was something different about him," said Sonic, dusting himself off. "For one thing he has diamond-tipped claws now, and those suckers are scary. I ripped up his arms last time we met, and he's had them replaced with all-new stuff. I knocked him out in the end, though."

"Did you see who he was chasing?"

"Yeah, some guy and a little girl. The guy had a jetpack or they would have been toast."

"They had a strong signature, too."

"Really?" Sonic looked surprised. "As strong as mine?"

"Yes," said Sally, showing him. "It could be because they're so close together, though."

Sonic looked at the screen and whistled. "They look like a chaos emerald! Any word on the emerald, by the way?"

Sally scanned, then scanned again. "Um. No. I think it's gone."

"What?" Sonic grabbed the tracker, and Sally grabbed it back and twisted a dial. "It was there when we stopped for fuel ... I took measurements and everything!" She did a continental sweep, and was relieved to see the emerald appear with its customary shape. But when she zoomed in, the signal dwindled to nothing and vanished.

Sally looked at Sonic. "Something's wrong."

"I'll say," said Sonic, folding his arms. "It looks like we were baited here."

Sally frowned at the tracker. "But that's not possible. Either chaos energy is there, or it isn't. Nobody knows enough about the field to fake a signal." She thought of Robo Knux's signal and looked at Sonic, who was thinking the same thing.

"You said Robo Knux was controlling the field. What if he was faking an emerald signal?"

"But nobody knew we had a tracker," Sally protested. "This is the only one in the world."

Sonic shook his head. "I don't like this. It smells like a trap."

Sally looked at the mounds of dirt that were entrances into Prairietown. "You want to get rooms here?"

"Might as well," said Sonic, reaching into the Cyclone's cockpit and pulling out their bags. "After that, I'm taking your tracker and going signal-hunting."

"I'm going with you," said Sally. "You've left me behind long enough."

Sonic gave her an odd grin.

The Prairietown tunnels and caverns were spacious and well ventilated, populated by burrowing creatures of all kinds. A pair of gophers ran an underground hotel that extended downward six floors, and Sonic and Sally took rooms on the first floor. The lower floors were more expensive, because Prairietown residents loved deep tunnels.

Sonic and Sally tossed their bags on their beds, and Sonic opened his and called, "Hey Sally, did you bring that helmet I told you to?"

"Yes," Sally called back. "Although I don't see why."

"This is why!" said Sonic, pulling a mass of buckles and straps from his duffle bag.

Sally stared at it. "And that is?"

"It's a hedgehog saddle," said Sonic, wrestling it on. "Tails designed it so-could you help me with this?-so I could carry people piggyback without them flying off."

"That's a good idea," said Sally, trying to figure out which buckles went where.

Between the two of them they attached it to Sonic, then Sonic explained to Sally how to climb into it. It took her three tries to figure out how to do it, but at last Sonic stood triumphantly in the middle of the room with Sally strapped to his back. She put on her helmet. "I feel ready for anything now."

"Good," said Sonic. "Now get off. I'm not carrying you back through the tunnels."

"Why Sonic," said Sally, un-strapping herself, "are you embarrassed?"

"No," said Sonic, a little too loudly. "I just don't want to carry you more than I have to. Besides, you have to carry the tracker."

"Right," said Sally, smiling.

They made their way up through the tunnels, and Sonic received many stares for wearing a harness with a tangle of straps hanging from the back. He glared back, daring someone to ask him about it. No one did.

Once outside they walked to the airstrip, and Sally climbed back into the 'saddle' and put on her helmet. "Ready for takeoff," she said, tightening the strap around her waist. She handed Sonic the tracker. "Turn this dial to adjust the focus, and these dials here to keep the blip targeted."

"Roger," said Sonic. "Hang on, Sal, I'm about to mix some juice with my jam." Sonic took two steps and broke into a run, and Sally grabbed the straps on his shoulders and hung on.

* * *


	5. Chapter 5

Knuckles was sitting on an overturned crate, head in one hand, the other hand twiddling a pencil back and forth. His notebook was open in front of him with his latest configurations for the derobotizer, but he could not concentrate. "I'm burning out," he thought. He gazed at the far window and the treetops waving beyond it. He was feeling the call of his island, a poignant homesickness that drew him home no matter how important mainland matters were. Not that anything was wrong with the Floating Island ... he just needed to go home for a while.

An added complication was that Zephyer felt the island's call, too. Every time she visited it, her life entwined with her ancestral home a little more. In the same way, she meshed with Knuckles that much more. But despair had held her in its clutches for so long that she was fighting any possible happiness tooth and nail. Knuckles had never seen anyone fight to keep from being happy, but she was doing it. The more she fought him, however, the more determined he was to conquer her and her ultimatum.

Knuckles got up and changed gloves from his greasy work ones to his clean everyday pair, and went hunting for his fiancÃ©. It was noon, and he was going to make sure she ate if he had to force-feed her.

He located her on the highest platform among the tree houses, sitting in the sun and gazing across the treetops. "Hey Zeff," Knuckles called. "Come down, it's lunchtime."

"Already?" said Zephyer, wrinkling her nose in disgust. She descended the ladder and smiled at Knuckles, who laid a hand on her heated metal shoulder. "Don't you get hot?"

"No," said Zephyer. "Heat is my element, remember? I hate being cold."

"Then you can have Sandopolis all to yourself," said Knuckles, leading the way down the boardwalk to the hut where food was stored. "I have something I thought you might like." He led her into the tree house and took a blue fruit like a pear off a shelf. "This is a chaofruit, because chao love them. I found this one on one of the trees I planted a few years ago, and thought you'd like to try it."

Zephyer took the fruit and smelled it. It had a smooth skin, and smelled like a cross between an orange and a peach. "Can I have a knife?" she asked.

Knuckles got one for her. He made himself a sandwich out of odds and ends that fit between two slices of bread, and they went to sit on the boardwalk to eat. Zephyer cut the fruit into slices and ate them slowly, and Knuckles watched her like a hawk to make sure she ate everything. She had been looking too pale lately.

Now she looked at him, and from her stubborn expression he knew she was going to fight him about something. He braced himself.

"Knux, I can't marry you. Let's call off the engagement."

"What's the problem this time?" he asked, the corner of his mouth twitching. She had more reasons for breaking up than a lawyer.

"You're the Guardian," she said, gesturing to the white crescent on his chest. "I'm not from a high-born tribe. I'm not even from a ranking tribe. I'm a Winstrom, I'm a-a peasant. If the other tribes were still here, we'd never be allowed to marry. You outrank me too much."

Knuckles shook his head. She had grown up in the social castes of the echidnas, which he did not understand. "Zeff, that doesn't apply here. Here, the Guardian marries whoever he darn well pleases."

Zephyer gazed at the chaofruit in her hands, and for a second Knuckles saw the outline of her skull, and his heart jolted. She was sicker than he thought. She looked up at him, and the vision passed. "What if our people ever come back? What if they declared our marriage null and void because you married a peasant?"

"Zeff, no echidna argues with the Master emerald. It's already played matchmaker, and it didn't care about your social standing." When she looked reproachful, he added, "If it'll make you feel any better, I'll change your rank at our wedding and get it all on paper."

She sighed and nodded, then said, "Do you want the rest of this fruit?"

"No," said knuckles, wondering where his sandwich was, then noticing the crumbs on his hands. "You eat the rest of that. We have a deal, you know."

She took a bite, chewed and swallowed. "It's because I'm a peasant that I'm here."

"Oh?"

"Yes. They needed someone to test the dimension-jump technology, and I was ... expendable." She pronounced the last word bitterly.

"Well, I'm glad I got you," said Knuckles. "A bubble-headed girl would have chased after me and made a pest of herself."

Zephyer cracked a smile. "I know those kinds. Like Amy."

The pair laughed.

"That reminds me," said Zephyer. "Sonic borrowed one of the rings you made me. He's off with Sally for a week."

Knuckles raised his eyebrows. "So he's finally getting serious, huh? It's about time. Sally's career's taking off and he'll be left behind."

"I don't think he has the guts to propose to her in just one week," said Zephyer. "But he was optimistic about his chances, so I loaned him the ring."

"Sonic's always that way," said Knuckles. "That's why he's made it this far. Hint, hint."

"The nice thing about being a pessimist," said Zephyer, "is that you're always being proven right, or being pleasantly surprised." In the same breath she added, "Does Sonic know Chaos Heal?"

Sometimes she changed subjects like that, and Knuckles scrambled to catch up. "Uh, Chaos Heal. No, we didn't get that far in his training."

"So you don't know it, either."

"No."

Zephyer studied him. "How do you know there's such a thing?"

"Because that's how Max subdued Chimera," said Knuckles. "Max healed Velocity, too."

"Oh yeah, I forgot about that," said Zephyer, wincing. "Maybe you should call Sonic and tell him to pick up Max on the way home."

"I sent a message to Nicole," said Knuckles. "Sally will get it."

"I hope they can get him away from the Communist Chao Company," said Zephyer, glaring. She had hated the Chao Co. ever since her chao Zinc had been stolen. "Nobody but thieves and rich people can get chao out of there."

"Don't I know it," said Knuckles, who had all but bribed the adoption officials to let them take Zinc and Chimera home. "They'll think of something. Between Sonic and Sally, there's enough creativity to build the Minotaur labyrinth and populate it, too."

* * *

The southern end of Central Mobius was divided into bays and peninsulas, where the ocean beat against rocky cliffs, and undertow currents sucked unwary swimmers out to sea.

On a rocky hill overlooking the sea was a crumbling castle, built there as a defense against ancient seafaring raiders. It was to this castle that the Lightgiver directed Destro, so the fox and the rabbit found themselves peering through the gaping entrance as the sun sank behind the hills.

"This place is creepy," said Cream. "Monty, do you see anything?"

Destro looked at the chao. Monty stood on the cracked pavement and gazed at everything, watching the chaos field. Finally he said, "There's nothing here. The field is really weak-the stone walls must break it up."

"Good," said Destro, wondering if that was why the Lightgiver had directed them here. "Let's look around before it's too dark."

Cream picked up Monty and pattered after Destro, reassured. "Hey Destro, did you see the guy who attacked the robot? He fought it so we could get away. I wonder who he is? Do you think we'll see him again? He could sure run fast, he was faster than the robot!"

"He had a strong aura, too," said Monty. "It was almost as strong as yours, Cream."

"Wow," said Cream, her voice echoing as she entered a high stairwell. "Destro, what's up there?"

The fox was halfway up and treading carefully. "Stay there," he said, and Cream obeyed. She watched as a shaft of red sunlight fell across Destro's face, then he was out of sight.

"I wish we had sleeping bags," she told Monty. "It'd be a lot warmer. Destro's not very nice to snuggle up to, his armor is cold. Hey Destro! Do you ever take your armor off?"

"No," came the reply.

"Not even to take a bath?" said Cream, and giggled.

"Come up, it's safe," said Destro, and Cream bounded up the stairs. At the top was a catwalk behind the outer wall, which had slots in it where archers could fire arrows through.

Cream ran out and looked through the slots. "Destro, look, you can see the ocean! Isn't it pretty? Can we go down to the beach? Please?"

"No," said Destro, walking past her to inspect a guardhouse set in the opposite corner of the catwalk.

Cream watched him. "Why not? Are there sharks?"

"No," Destro repeated, one hand curling into a fist. He was at the end of his strength and his patience, and his armor was so drained it was sucking the energy out of him like a leech. He looked over the wall. "It will be dark soon."

"Where are we going to sleep?" Cream asked, standing on tiptoe to see over the wall. "There's no beds here."

Destro stalked past her without answering and descended the stairs, both hands clenched.

Cream ran after him. "Do you know a place to sleep? Can we go to the beach in the morning? Do you think that robot will find us?"

Silent in the face of her questions, Destro found an antechamber that was sheltered from the elements, and went out to cut branches to make a bed. Cream cheerfully helped carry sprays of pine branches back to the castle, and afterward helped Destro collect leaves to spread on the branches. It was a crackly, itchy bed, but the leaves provided insulation against the cold ocean air.

By this time it was dark, and Destro was working by the light of the instruments in his helmet. Cream was surrounded by a dim pinkish glow, which enabled her and Monty to see. Monty was half-asleep when Destro and Cream retired to their makeshift bed. Destro was nodding off, but Cream was bubbling over with energy.

"I like the way these leaves smell, I got some pine needles too, is that okay? Pine needles smell good, don't they? It's so neat we get to stay in a castle. I always wanted to live in a castle. Mom says we could afford to live in one because of how much Daddy makes at work, but we don't."

"Please be quiet," said Destro.

"You don't want me to talk?" said Cream in astonishment. "Are you really tired?"

"Yes."

"Why?"

Destro lifted his head, mentally screaming at the Lightgiver for entrusting this child to him. "My armor takes power from my body. When I use my jetpack, the armor feeds on the electricity in my body. It makes me tired."

"Good grief," he thought. "I'm explaining biotechnology to an eight-year old."

Cream's eyes were round. "Wow! Are you invincible? Do you fight crime?"

"No," said Destro, and when he saw her open her mouth to ask more questions, he went on, "I'm a warrior for the Lightgiver, and I go wherever he tells me. He told me to protect you, and that's what I'm doing."

"Lightgiver?" said Cream. "Where is he? Does he have flashlights?"

"He's invisible, and more powerful than anything," said Destro. It had been years since he had talked so much, and his mouth refused to coordinate with his brain. But if he was talking, she was quiet, so he babbled on. He talked about places he had been and things he had seen the Lightgiver do, and the time he had been kidnapped and taken to a human zoo, only to break out, reclaim his armor and sword, and flee.

When he next looked at Cream, she was sound asleep. He brushed some leaves over her and lay back, closing his eyes. "Lightgiver," he whispered to the darkness, "you are mighty and all-knowing, worthy of praise. But why did you inflict this child upon me with her infernal nagging?"

The Lightgiver was there, but he did not answer. Destro sighed and let sleep carry him away.

* * *

Sonic and Sally had wandered through miles and miles of farmland, tracking the elusive chaos emerald signal. Every time they neared it, it faded out, and Sonic had to require the signal. When he did, the signal had moved a few miles. He would chase it to its position, only to have it fade and shift again.

Toward evening Sonic began to slow down, for the edge was gone from his energy and he was discouraged. Sally opened the visor on her helmet. "Could you let me down for a while? This harness is uncomfortable."

"Sure," said Sonic, stopping and letting her unto the clasps. Sally stood up, rubbing her knees and wincing. "When we get home, tell Tails to put padding on the leg-loops. I feel like I've been kicked by a horse."

"I guess I should have let you rest more often," said Sonic. "Sorry about that."

They walked along a dirt road through a carrot field, still following the tracker. "This is like chasing a rainbow," said Sonic, "except even more irritating, because I KNOW the emerald's there somewhere."

"I know," said Sally. "Maybe there's something wrong with the tracker."

They walked in silence for a moment, and the wind hissed through the ferny carrot tops. Sonic was relieved to have Sally off his back, for she was quite heavy after a while. He stretched his shoulders as they walked along. Sally pulled off her helmet and ran a hand through her sweaty auburn hair. "Phew, hot in there."

Sonic watched the tracker, aware that they had slipped back into the old roles of commander and soldier, with Sally figuring things out while Sonic did the footwork. But he didn't know how to take their relationship deeper without falling all over himself and hurting her feelings.

Sally looked at him. "Could I ask you something?"

"Sure," said Sonic.

"What was the thing with Mekion all about?"

Sonic felt his insides turn to cold stone. He opened his mouth to reply and found he had no words, so he said nothing.

Sally looked at him. "Are you mad at me?"

"No," Sonic grunted.

"You never talk to me anymore," said Sally, frowning. "Remember how we used to talk about everything? Things aren't so hard now, and you have more friends, I know, but I'd like to hear about things now and then. You never told me a word about Shadow."

"I watched him die," said Sonic coldly. "It's not something I enjoy talking about."

"See, I didn't know that," said Sally. She stopped and faced him.

Sonic folded his arms. "So you, like, want me to check in and give you daily reports on my life?"

"No," said Sally quietly. "Sometimes it helps to tell someone when you're having problems."

They looked at each other a moment. Sonic's eyes were like chips of jade. The mention of Mekion set a wound to throbbing in his heart-a mixture of anger, sorrow and betrayal that he had allowed to fester inside of him. "I don't want to talk about it," he said at last, and walked off. Sally fell into step beside him.

The further they walked, the harder Sonic's conscience prodded him. He had asked Sally to come so they could salvage their relationship, and here he was distancing her. But she had asked him about Mekion, and he knew that if he talked about Mekion he would cry, and he couldn't do that. His conscience pricked him. He was being cruel, and Sally was his friend. He couldn't treat her like that. Worst of all was the way she was walking along without speaking, as if he had hurt her feelings too deeply for words.

"Shadow died," Sonic said, the words struggling out of him. "But his chao Nox brought him back to life, and somehow Metal Sonic got a hold of him and made him into Mekion."

So far so good. Sally was watching him, ears pricked. Sonic ploughed ahead, wanting to get the story over with. "Mekion is half-robot half-hedgehog, split right down the middle. He was sent out on a stealth mission to the Floating Island, and we kept seeing him. Knux recognized him and didn't want to tell me that he was Shadow."

Sonic was nearing the hardest part, and paused to steady his voice. Sally nodded, listening.

"Then I met Mekion, and he didn't remember me. But I kept talking to him, and I think I got through to him..." He paused, furious at the lump in his throat and his inability to get rid of it. "He saved my life," he concluded, dangerously close to tears. He glared at Sally. "There you have it, why I didn't talk about it."

He was prepared to take offense at anything she said, but Sally didn't speak. Instead she put an arm around his shoulders and hugged him. The simple gesture smashed Sonic's self-control to pieces, and Sally held him while he cried, the first tears he had shed since losing Shadow the second time.

Afterward he felt better, and dried his eyes with the back of his glove.

"I had no idea," Sally told him. "He betrayed you, didn't he?"

"It wasn't his fault," said Sonic, feeling calmer than he had in weeks. "Metal Sonic had him programmed so he couldn't change sides. It almost killed him saving me."

"Do you think we could alter his programming?" said Sally. "Maybe we could add a loophole or something."

Sonic's barrier had been breached by his tears, and he and Sally talked as they used to. As they walked, the tracker lost the emerald signal, and when they reacquired it, the signal had shifted to the east. Sonic and Sally cut across a carrot field, walking between the rows and smelling the carroty odor of crushed stalks.

They were in the middle of the field, surrounded by a sea of green, when Sonic grabbed Sally's arm. "Sal. Robo Knux is coming."

Sally looked around, but the horizon was empty. Then she looked at the tracker and saw a spiral moving toward them, but Sonic wasn't watching the tracker. "Sonic, we've got to get out of this field."

"Right," said Sonic, gazing at the sky. "Grab the harness and hang on."

Sally grabbed the straps and jumped into the saddle, but there was no time to strap herself in, for Sonic bolted across the field, still looking at a point on the empty horizon.

"Sonic," Sally said through her teeth, "what are you looking at?"

"He's making me feel funny," said Sonic. "He's like a ball of electricity and-" Sonic stumbled, nearly throwing Sally off over his head. "Sorry," he said, getting up. "Darn carrot rows! Robo Knux is making me dizzy."

"Dizzy?" said Sally, clinging to the straps and hoping Sonic had not fallen on the tracker. "He's not even in sight!" But she thought of the spiral of chaos energy with a jolt of fear.

"Yeah, it's weird," said Sonic. "Ugh, I have to stop." He did, and Sally slid off.

"Sonic, this is a bad place for a robot encounter. We're unarmed!"

"We still have me," said Sonic, holding the sides of his head and squinting. "Man, this feels so weird!"

A speck appeared on the horizon, silhouetted against the sunset. Sonic handed the tracker to Sally and stepped across the rows toward the robot, shaking his head as if a fly was bothering him. Sally consulted the tracker screen, and saw the spiral's size had increased. It looked like a small tornado.

"Sal," Sonic said, too casually, "run for the road."

She obeyed at once, sprinting across the field with the tracker and Nicole clutched to her chest. Sonic ran laterally, jumping from rot to row to intercept Robo Knux. Sally could hear the roar of the robot's engines, but she dared not look back when footing was so treacherous. Half of her wanted to turn back and help Sonic, but she had no weapons and was no match for Robo Knux in a fight-a liability in a fight. She kept running.

The chaos wave struck Sally as she reached the road between fields, and the concussion made her head spin. She lost her balance and fell over, just keeping the tracker from hitting the ground. She had not felt chaos power like that since the flux, and she squinted across the field toward Sonic and Robo Knux. Sonic was standing still and the robot was flying in circles around him, spiraling closer and closer. Why didn't Sonic move? Had he been hurt by the wave of chaos energy?

As Sally watched, Sonic woke up and bolted toward her. He gestured to his head, so she put on her helmet, slung the tracker around her neck by its strap, and waited. Robo Knux was pursuing Sonic, his claws outstretched, the yellow light from his jets outlining him in a hellish glow. There was something else different about him, but Sally had no time to look, for Sonic bounded onto the road. She grabbed his harness and swung her legs around his waist as he entered the flat-out run he used to shatter the sound barrier. Sally wrapped her hands in the straps, knowing that strapping herself in was out of the question.

She glanced over her shoulder and saw the robot was gaining on them, his arms pressed to his sides to minimize wind resistance. "Speed up, Sonic!" she shouted through her visor. She felt Sonic's strides become longer, and the wind roared over her helmet and tore at her body. She ducked behind Sonic's head and closed her eyes, knowing that falling off meant instant death.

Sonic knew that if he broke the sound barrier, the conflicting air currents would break Sally's grip, so he kept his speed just under six hundred miles an hour. Robo Knux was still there-Sonic could feel massive amounts of chaos energy coming off him, and it conflicted with Sonic's field, twisting it and making his fur prickle. Sonic thought he knew how Robo Knux operated-a psychopathic assassin robot that attacked and killed as the mood struck. The robot also had the latest in vernacular chips, and never missed an opportunity to insult an opponent. It was unusual for him to attack in silence, but Sonic had encountered him twice now, and Robo Knux had not said a word.

Sonic felt Sally's hands slipping, and grabbed her wrists. She wouldn't fall off if he held on to her, so he accelerated through the sound barrier.

Even with afterburners at 110%, Robo Knux was no match for Sonic's speed, and Sonic shot away into the dusk, vanishing from all of Robo Knux's instruments in five seconds flat.

Sonic kept running, glorying in his superior speed and holding Sally's arms around his neck to keep her from flying off. He flashed along dirt roads and through fields, a cloud of dust rising in his wake and a sonic boom echoing behind him. When he was certain he had lost Robo Knux, he began to slow down. He had run south, and he glimpsed the sea on the horizon as he decelerated. Wow, he had come two hundred miles in about eight minutes.

Night was settling in as Sonic jogged to a halt, hot and panting, wishing that he didn't have to stop. "Sal, you still with me?" he asked, looking over his shoulder. To his horror he saw her helmet was cracked, and she was hanging on him like a sack of wheat. He knelt and let her slide to the ground, remorse tearing at him. He knew he should have stayed below the sound barrier! He pulled off her broken helmet and felt her throat for a heartbeat, and discovered with relief that she was alive. She must have fainted. Sonic thought of the time that his sister had fainted because he ran too fast, and kicked himself. "Hedgehog, you're an idiot." He looked down at Sally for a moment, wondering what to do. They needed shelter, especially if Robo Knux was still tracking them.

He stood up and peered along the coast. In the last of the twilight he spotted a dark mass against the sky-maybe a farmhouse. Sonic picked up Sally with a grunt and began walking.

* * *


	6. Chapter 6

Sonic's whirlwind race had not escaped the attention of the locals. A farmer walking home was knocked into the ditch by a speeding object and the wind behind it. A weather station logged an impossibly fast-moving object, and labeled it a UFO. The radar maps were distributed on the human computer network, and crackpots used it as proof of an impending alien attack. The tracking station became the Mecca of UFO fanatics, who called the incident "Roswell Two".

But there were two individuals that evening that witnessed Sonic's flight, and recognized it. They were rabbits, a male and female, both packing enough firepower to dispatch a tank.

Eva jerked her rail gun to her shoulder to fire after the hedgehog, her ears waving in the windy aftermath, but her husband seized the gun and forced it down. "Don't," he said, staring after the plume of dust. "I know what that was."

"It was the robot," said Eva, flinging her ears over her shoulder. "You know how fast it is, and now I've lost my shot."

Her husband did not answer, but he gazed in the direction Sonic had gone with a slow smile.

"What?" she asked.

"That was no robot," he said. "That was Sonic the Hedgehog."

"Who?"

"The guy who helped me put Devan Shell behind bars. If he's here, then something big is going on."

Eva gazed at him. "You think he knows where Cream is?"

"He was sure in a hurry. He probably-" He was cut off as Robo Knux screamed by, leaving behind the odor of overheated fusion core.

"Does that answer your question?" said Jazz, emptying thirty rounds in the direction the robot had gone. Eva fired her rail gun as well, but they both missed.

"Come on!" said Jazz. He sprinted after the robot, and Eva shouldered her rail gun and followed.

* * *

Zephyer stole through the woods outside of Knothole, pausing once in a while to listen. She didn't want to be followed, and she didn't want Knuckles to find out what she was doing. Eagle's Nest had become stifling and cramped, and she had to get out-and there was only one place she wanted to go.

A chain link fence loomed out of the darkness like a pale wall. Zephyer unlatched the gate and slipped inside, closing the gate carefully to avoid making a sound. Inside the fence was the crystal teleporter aimed for the Floating Island, and Zephyer paused one last time to make sure she was alone before stepping onto the lens.

The teleporter lit like a beacon, and she knew that if anyone was around, they would see the flash and come running. But it was too late now-she was gathered up, sucked through time and space, and set down on the receiver plate on the island. She drew a deep breath as she stepped off the plate, and stood looking at the stars behind the mountains in the island's center.

As far as she could see, it was pitch black. There were suggestions of hills and trees against the night sky, but that was all. No sign of civilization. No lights. Nothing but an empty, lonely island that Zephyer could disappear into, away from the stresses of her life. Her ancestral home.

She crossed the road that led up to Chaotix Central, and climbed a low bank. A gentle hill sloped up before her, dotted with trees and brush just putting out new leaves. Zephyer climbed the hill, often looking over her shoulder at the receiver plate. "Who do you expect to come after you?" she asked herself. "Knuckles was busy. How could he possibly know where you are?" But she still had the odd feeling that he knew.

She pushed on up the hill, fighting her growing fatigue and pausing every now and then to look around. Her night vision was poor, for she had been in a well-lit hut ten minutes ago, but her eyes were adjusting. She could make out the shapes of the trees around her, and skirted them. She smelled the bittersweet odor of palm flowers, and heard the murmur of moth wings as they fluttered above her head. Zephyer wondered if there were any wild animals on the island, and made a note to ask Knuckles sometime.

A restless bird chirped somewhere, and Zephyer stopped to rest and look around. She had reached the top of the hill, and through a gap in the trees she could see the moon rising above the mainland, which was only a ruffle along the horizon. The island must be about thirty miles out to sea.

Her ears began to ring, and Zephyer knew she had pushed too hard. She sat down on the grass and watched the moon rise, letting herself rest, and enjoying the knowledge that nobody knew where she was, and that for the moment, she was her own master. As a child she had found a tunnel with an opening into the main cave, where the other echidnas gathered, and she would creep into her tunnel and spy on them with the same feeling of smugness.

There was a flash from the teleporter receiver, and Zephyer jumped. How had he KNOWN? She didn't get up, though. Knuckles knew she was on the island ... but he would never find her unless she wanted him to. And she didn't want him to.

She watched the moon rise, slowly silvering a cloud that hung in the sky above it, and wondered how Sonic and Sally were doing. They should be in Central Mobius by now, and Zephyer wondered how close they were to finding a chaos emerald. She also wondered if Sonic had the guts to propose to Sally, and smiled. She bet he didn't. Not yet, anyway.

"Zephyer?" Knuckles called. He was at the foot of her hill. She looked toward him and thought about answering, and decided she would. "Up here," she called.

She heard his feet crunching through the grass, and saw him reach the edge of the trees and pause uncertainty. "Where are you?"

"Right here," said Zephyer, "watching the moon rise."

Knuckles spotted her, walked over and sat down beside her. "Whatever possessed you to come out here at eight o'clock at night?"

"I had to come," said Zephyer. "I couldn't stay in Eagle's Nest one more minute. Although you lucked out, this time. I was going to hike out and get lost on purpose."

"I would have found you," said Knuckles. "I know every inch of this place."

"Are there any wild animals here?"

Knuckles thought for a moment. "Mostly I have birds, but there are lots of little critters ... rodents and the like. Big predators are too dangerous to keep around, but I understand there's a leopard on the west side."

"A leopard?"

"Yeah. I guess he swam ashore when I was taking on water one time. I'd hunt him down if he acted up, but he seems to mind his own business. You know the non-sentients-if they have enough food, they're happy."

There was a moment of silence. The moon was behind the cloud now, and the cloud was rimmed in silver light.

"Any more reasons why you can't marry me?" said Knuckles.

"Yes, actually," said Zephyer, looking at him. "Why do you ask?"

He shrugged. "You hit me blindside with those reasons, and I wanted to go on the offensive for once."

"Blindside?" Zephyer grinned. "I'll try to think of more, then."

"What's your current one?"

Zephyer plucked a grass blade and broke it into smaller pieces with her metal fingers. "The Guardian's mate has to be approved by the elders. It's pretty important who the Guardian marries, politically."

Knuckles shook his head. "Not politics again..."

"Well, it is!" said Zephyer. "Somebody has to look after the island's best interests, and do you know anybody to approve me as a proper co-Guardian?"

"All of Knothole seems to like you," said Knuckles.

Zephyer waved a hand. "What do they know? And what about the initiation ceremony with the Master Emerald? You can't have a mainlander perform THAT."

"My father will do that," said Knuckles quietly.

Zephyer gazed at him in silence. They both knew that Knuckles's father lived in hiding somewhere, because he knew things about the power emeralds that must remain secret forever. Knuckles communicated with him once a year.

Knuckles smiled. "He told me to give him a call when I decided to get married. All he said was to make sure I'd picked the right girl."

Zephyer shook her head. "I'm not sure you have."

"I am," said Knuckles. He put an arm around her, but she pulled away. Rebuffed, he asked, "Why do you do that?"

She glared at him, her eyes gleaming in the moonlight. "You see all this metal? I hate it. Any time you touch me, I'm reminded that-that it'll never come off."

"It WILL come off," said Knuckles. "Why don't you believe me?"

Zephyer stood up and walked a few paces into the trees. Knuckles rose and followed her. She was crying. "I'm trying not to give up," she whispered, "but it's so hard."

"Just hang on, Zeff," said Knuckles, taking her arm and guiding her back toward the teleporter. "I won't let you down."

* * *

The dark object on the horizon was further away than it looked, and Sonic carried the unconscious Sally for half a mile. As he neared the dark mass, he realized it was an old fortress like a castle. There were no lights, so it must be abandoned, but it was shelter. Sonic carried Sally through the archway and into a courtyard, and peered around in the darkness. There were many vague shapes and shadows. Sonic wished for a flashlight, and set Sally down in a corner. "I'll be back," he whispered. He hated to leave her, but he needed his hands free to explore.

Sonic crossed the courtyard and peered through an arch. The air smelled closed-in, and it was pitch black. Maybe he would venture in later. He moved off to investigate another passage, and heard echoes of the sea. He looked over his shoulder toward Sally, and saw a strange figure silhouetted against the courtyard.

Sonic gasped and jumped sideways inside the doorway, heart thundering. He had heard nothing! "Who are you?" he called, watching the lighter patch of gray that was the doorway. "I was only looking around." Maybe it was a hermit who had adopted the fortress as his home. Sonic had heard people got eccentric living that way. The person didn't answer. At least it wasn't Robo Knux-Sonic's chaos field would be going haywire.

There was a click, and a green glow reflected off the walls. Sonic risked a peek through the doorway and saw a fox's face inside a helmet lit by green instrument controls. "Oh, you're a fox," said Sonic, stepping into view. "I'm Sonic."

The fox studied him for a long moment, then said, "Who is the girl? Is she hurt?"

Good grief, he had found Sally! "Her name is Sally," said sonic. "She fainted and I was trying to find shelter."

The fox said, "It is dangerous here. I am being tracked by an assassin robot, and it could arrive at any time."

Sonic relaxed. An enemy of Robo Knux was a friend of his. "What a coincidence, so am I. Red robot? Long claws?"

The fox nodded.

"That's Robo Knux, Mecha-bot four," said Sonic. "He was chasing me, too. I guess we're on the same side." He extended a hand, and the fox shook it.

"Call me Destro." His glove was made of chain mail, Sonic noticed.

"Do you know a place where we can get indoors?"

"Yes," said Destro, walking away. Sonic followed him and saw a side room by the glow of Destro's helmet. Inside it was a bed of leaves, and a small figure curled up on them.

"Hey," said Sonic, lowering his voice. "You're the ones Robo Knux was chasing this morning, aren't you?"

Destro gave him a hard look. "Are you the hedgehog who stopped him?"

"That's me," said Sonic, grinning.

"We're indebted to you," said Destro, bowing. "You may place your friend in here. I will keep watch outside."

"Thanks," said Sonic, trotting out to get Sally.

She was lying where he had left her, her breathing slow and deep. Sonic carefully lifted her, half-hoping she would wake up, but she merely sighed. His spine creaking, Sonic carried her into the antechamber and laid her down next to the sleeping rabbit. He stood there for ten minutes, unstrapping himself from the harness, then stepped outside to join Destro.

The fox was sitting against the wall, a darker shadow in the darkness. "I will keep watch," he said as Sonic sat down. "You may sleep if you wish."

"That's okay, I'm good," said Sonic, who wasn't ready to place his life in the armored hands of this stranger. "Why's Robo Knux after you?"

Destro was silent a moment, then said, "He is hunting Cream, the rabbit."

"Why?" said Sonic. "Does she have a chaos emerald or something?"

"No," said Destro.

They sat in silence for ten minutes, and nothing happened. Sonic began to nod off, and crawled into the room with the two sleepers. He curled up on the leaves and went to sleep, making a mental note to wake up if Destro moved.


	7. Chapter 7

Sally awoke at dawn and found herself freezing cold, with a warm body snuggled up against her. Upon closer inspection she saw it was a young rabbit with enormous ears, with a chao sleeping in one of them. Sally sat up and saw Sonic was snoring in the doorway of the room, and she could smell the sea.

She ached all over from Sonic's wild flight, and the last thing she remembered was a sick euphoria as the roaring air created a vacuum inside her helmet. She had thought her head was going to pop, then she blacked out.

When Sally moved, the rabbit stirred and stretched, and now lay looking at her. "Hi," she said. "I'm Cream. Who are you?"

"I'm Sally Acorn," said the squirrel. "Where did you come from?"

"Where did YOU come from?" said Cream. "It was only Destro here when I went to sleep. Did he let you come in?"

"I don't know," said Sally, standing up and wincing at her sore muscles. She nudged Sonic with a toe. "Wake up, juggernaut. Where are we?"

Sonic rolled over and yawned. "Five more minutes, that's all."

"No, NOW," said Sally, prodding him harder. "Where are we?"

Sonic sat up and looked at Cream. "Oh, hi. I'm Sonic. Sally, we're in a castle by the beach. It was the closest shelter I could find. Hey Destro, you still out there?"

"Yes," came the fox's voice, and he stepped into sight, looking exhausted.

"Hey man, you look dead on your feet," said Sonic, getting up. "Did you sleep at all?"

"I was keeping watch," said Destro stiffly.

Cream trotted to Destro and hugged him around the waist. "Good morning! Do you think we can go home today?"

Destro stepped out of her grasp with a pained expression. "We'll see. The danger is not past."

"I'll say," said Sonic. "Robo Knux is nuttier than ever, and he's got a weird distortion around him."

Cream and Monty looked at Sonic. "What do you mean?" said Monty.

"Hey, a chao," said Sonic. "I like chao. Robo Knux makes me go all weird when he comes close. I've never felt anything like it."

Monty and Cream exchanged glances. "Do you think he followed you?" asked Monty.

"Naw, I lost him when I broke the sound barrier," said sonic with a grin. "You guys got anything to eat?"

"No," said Cream, Monty and Destro in unison. "But we can eat carrots," said Cream. "There's lots of them in the fields."

"Carrots," said sonic with distaste. "I'll keep that in mind." He trotted out of the courtyard.

Sally drew a deep breath. "I'm going to look around. Do you want to come?"

"I do!" said Cream. "I want to go to the beach! Come on, Destro!" She ran out of the courtyard, and Sally followed with Destro trailing behind.

Sally walked to the cliff tops and gazed at the ocean. The tide was going out, and a strip of sand was exposed at the foot of the cliffs. Cream walked beside her with Monty toddling behind them. "Can we go down there?"

"If we can find a way down," said Sally. "Do you live around here?"

"I live in Carrotseed," said Cream, her strong ear standing up, then drooping again. "We ran away because of the robot, and Destro rescued me and we ran all the way down here. I saw Sonic attack the robot yesterday."

"Is that you we saw?" said Sally, marveling at the coincidence. "You must be able to run fast."

"Destro uses his rocket pack when we need to go fast," said Cream, skipping a few paces. "Hey, that looks like a trail over there." She pointed to a path snaking down the cliff side.

Sally said, "You're right. Let's go."

The squirrel, rabbit and chao descended the steep path, dislodging pebbles that rolled down ahead of them. The cliffs were twenty feet high, and the rock walls were damp from the tide. Cream and Monty reached the sand first and ran toward the water. Sally walked after them, holding the emerald tracker in one hand. The cliffs formed a small cove, and unless the tide dropped lower, there was no way out except by the trail. Sally glanced at the cliff tops and saw Destro watching them. Such an odd bird. Sally had known some oddballs in her years as a Freedom Fighter, and Destro did not worry her. He had rescued Cream from Robo Knux, so he must have a good heart. Speaking of oddballs, where had Sonic gone? She switched on the tracker.

She located Sonic several miles from their current position, cruising toward a town on the coast. He was probably hunting for breakfast. Out of curiosity she scanned for the green emerald, and picked it up back inland.

"Can I see that?" said Cream, appearing at Sally's elbow. Sally held it where the rabbit could see it, and the screen shivered in Cream's interference. Monty ran up beside his mistress, and the interference waned. "I'm not allowed to touch computers," said Cream. "What's that stuff on the screen?"

"This tracks the chaos field," said Sally, wondering how much Cream would blab later on. "This is Sonic, here. This is a chaos emerald, and this is you." She tapped a blotch the size of the emerald, but more random.

"Wow, you can pick up my chaos field," said Cream. "What's that over there?" She pointed at the screen and it flickered under her finger. "It looks like a cinnamon roll."

A spiral of chaos energy was speeding toward their position, and it was twice the size it had been yesterday. Sally's stomach lurched. "That's Robo Knux." Suddenly the cove with its lapping waves seemed like a trap. "We need to get back to the castle, quick."

Cream's eyes widened, and she ran for the trail, Sally right behind her. Monty gave a cry and stared at the cliff tops, seeing something that other eyes could not, and Sally felt the same blast of power that had knocked her down the evening before. The tracker screen faded to static, and she staggered and fell on the sand, feeling a sick disorientation. Cream was holding her ears, and Monty was standing beside her, teeth bared.

Robo Knux blasted into sight and hovered above the cove, the jets in his dreadlocks roaring. The air around him shimmered with a vague purple haze, and Sally squinted through it, wondering if her eyes were deceiving her. Robo Knux had changed from bright red to a dull maroon, his eyes were ice blue, and painted on his forehead were a collection of geometric shapes.

"Is he the same robot?" Sally wondered in panic. Robo Knux was bad enough, but an unknown was even worse. His head turned and his eyes focused on them, shading back to green. It was him.

She saw Destro on the cliff behind the robot lower his visor, and Sally's military-mind snapped into action. If Robo Knux charged them, he would collide with the cliffs. Destro would do the same if he attempted a rescue. But maybe she could distract Robo Knux long enough for Destro to rescue Cream. She could use her tracker as a shield if she had to, and there was always the ocean, her last defense against robots.

Sally ran under the hovering robot, waving and yelling, "Hey you! Bet you can't get me!" What things did Sonic say in times like these? Not that it mattered; Robo Knux was watching her, flexing his claws. She ran through the hot blast from his jets, her feet churning the sand, and saw the light change as he dove after her. Great, you've got his attention, now what do you do?

She looked back and saw him diving after her with his hands clasped in front of him like a mace. The air around him shimmered with chaos power, and her nerve failed. She dropped flat, and Robo Knux shot past her like a homing missile. She jumped up in time to see him slow and spin around, feet touching the ground. She had counted on him remaining airborne. On foot she had no hope at all. Why didn't Sonic come back? She glanced at Cream in time to see Destro scoop her up and rocket to safety.

Sally returned her gaze to her enemy as he ran at her, claws outstretched, eyes a cold blue. He was so fast she had no time to shield herself with the tracker-on instinct she threw out her hands.

Her hands closed on his razor-sharp claws, and time slowed to a crawl. The chaos energy smote her a dizzying blow, and his diamond-tipped claws sliced her hands like razors. She looked into the electronic eyes, and saw the madness there. Her feet slipped backward through the sand. Still he drove forward, and still she clung to the claws, holding them away from her. The chaos energy beat against her body and mind, painful beyond enduring, whipping in a hurricane around and around. Although Robo Knux had drawn it, it had nowhere to go, no natural abilities to enhance, and could only swirl in a tighter and tighter vortex-

It seemed she had clung to his claws forever, being driven backward through the sand with the fierce disjointed energy devouring her, her hands bleeding, unable to let go or he would kill her- She looked at him again and saw his head lift and his eyes focus on her. He was surprised. "What are you doing?" he snarled, each word coming slow and thick through the chaos field. "Why haven't I hurt you?"

He tried to pull free, but Sally held his claws in either hand, not understanding how she was doing it, but certain that if she let go he would run her through. She found her footing and pushed him back, laboring through the molasses that was time and space inside the field distortion. She was pushing him back, and he was astonished. He struggled to break her hold, but her hands remained clenched on his claws, her eyes burning. The spiraling, whirling chaos energy began to center on Sally, sucking into her like filings into a magnet. She was an outlet for the chaos charge Robo Knux had accumulated, and suddenly she was a match for him.

Sally twisted and dealt the robot a karate kick between the eyes. Time snapped back to normal, and the robot flew across the cove and smashed into the cliff wall.

She looked at her hands and saw that his claws had laid them open in three neat slices across her palms and fingers. Her hands hummed with the chaos charge, and she felt the madness swirling inside her, threatening to overwhelm her mind. "Oh my gosh, I'm turning into Robo Knux," she gasped as thoughts of blood and mayhem poured into her head.

She sank to her knees, clutching her head with her torn hands, trying to think clearly. The world was spinning as she tried to absorb the lethal amounts of energy. The pain in her hands was the only thing in the world that was real. They were bleeding. Behind her was the ocean. Maybe the shock of saltwater in her wounds would wake her up. Fighting the mists, Sally rose and moved toward the water, hands outstretched like a sleepwalker. She carried with her a whirlwind of deadly chaos energy.

The clash had taken a split second in real time. Destro, Cream and Monty watched in astonishment as Robo Knux charged at Sally, who caught him by the claws and kicked him into the wall.

"How'd she do that?" gasped Cream.

"His tornado has split in two," said Monty, watching the chaos field in disbelief. "It's an arc, one part on him, one part on her. This is really bad!"

"Cream," said Destro, "go back to the castle. You'll be safe there."

"I'm not afraid," said Cream, watching as Sally waded into the surf and bathed her hands.

"That's not the point," said Destro through his teeth. "I must destroy the robot, and you mustn't be hurt."

"Phooey," said Cream, pouting. "What do you think, Monty?"

The chao was gazing toward the castle. "I think you should do like he says."

"Double phooey!" said Cream.

"Run," said Destro, and the rabbit trotted sulkily back toward the castle.

Destro drew his sword. This was it, the reason the Lightgiver had drawn him to this place. To make an end of the robot. And yet he hesitated. The Lightgiver was asking him to wait a few minutes longer. Destro chafed, trembling in eagerness for a fight, and waited on the cliff top.

* * *

"It's not fair," Cream complained as she walked to the castle entrance. Her chaos field was moving in a circle around her in response to the robot's cyclone, and Monty was frantically trying to stop it.

"It is too fair," he snapped. "The robot's chaos storm is affecting your field and making it spin. Get inside the walls, quick."

"I wanted to see the robot and Destro fight!" said Cream, forgetting that the last battle she had witnessed left her in tears for an hour afterward. Monty didn't mention this. His field had little effect on hers, and hers was getting stronger. It had nothing to do with her mood.

"Cream, you need to sit down and be very quiet," said Monty, his voice trembling. But Cream was staring around the corner of the castle. "Daddy! Mommy!" she shrieked and bolted toward them, dropping Monty.

A green rabbit and a butterscotch rabbit were peering into the castle courtyard when their daughter flung herself upon them, screaming their names. Eva and Jazz caught her up in a relieved hug, tears rolling down Eva's cheeks. Monty puffed up to them a moment later, thankful to see that Eva was absorbing Cream's excess energy.

"Where have you two been?" said Jazz, never one to show emotion for very long. "And where's that berserker who was with you?"

"He's down at the beach fighting the robot," said Cream from her mother's arms. "Something bad happened to Sally, and Destro's going to save her. He told me to come back here so I couldn't watch. Isn't that awful?"

"Yes, just awful," said Jazz, shouldering his gun with a maniac glint in his eyes. "I'll be back." He jogged around the castle corner.

He had been gone thirty seconds when there was a burst of air and Sonic appeared in a cloud of dust. "Hi kiddo, this your mom?" he said. He shook Eva's hand. "I'm Sonic, and I saved Cream from being made into butter."

"Sally's been attacked," said Monty. "By Robo Knux. Jazz went to help Destro fight him."

Sonic's eyes widened, and he sprinted away in another rush of wind.

"Hey mom," said Cream, "if we go up on the battlements, we can watch!"

"I don't think so, young lady," said Eva. "You let your father handle this. Look at you, you're filthy!"

"No baths," said Cream proudly. "Monty, what are you doing?"

The chao was tugging the hem of her dress. "Let's go in the castle, please," he begged.

Just as they stepped through the gateway, a blast of chaos energy rocked it to its foundations.

* * *

Sonic joined Jazz and Destro on the cliff top and looked down at Sally standing knee deep in the water. Robo Knux was climbing to his feet. "What's Sally doing down there?" said Sonic, aghast. "Sally, run!"

"She's drawn off part of the robot's chaos field," said Destro, running his thumb along his sword's blade. "She appears hypnotized."

Jazz had his gun trained on Robo Knux, and he spoke without lifting his head. "Chaos field? That's bad. Hello, Sonic."

"Hey, Jazz," said Sonic, still watching Sally. "What'd happen if I ran down and carried her out?"

"You might attract the robot's attention," said Jazz, watching through his sights as Robo Knux brushed sand off himself and strode toward Sally.

Sonic stiffened. "I've got my belt, they can't hurt me!" He swiped his hands across the invisible belt around his waist, and his fur began to glow, colors rippling through his spines. Jazz and Destro stared at him. Destro's armor absorbed the power radiating off Sonic and recharged his batteries.

"You, sir, are a menace," said Jazz. "Your chaos field is nuts, and you're going to interfere with them?"

"Watch me," said Sonic, and dove off the cliff.

Jazz and Destro exchanged glances, and Jazz cocked his gun. "When the robot follows him, see how many limbs you can hack off."

Destro nodded.

Hyper Sonic flashed up to Sally and hovered above the water. "Sally!" he said.

Her pupils had contracted so far her eyes were solid blue. "Hi," she said. Her hands were bleeding and her vest was stained where she had wiped them.

"Sally, I'll get you out of here, come on!" said Sonic, holding out his hands.

Sally looked at them, and with maddening slowness she shook her head. "Can't touch," she said, smiling. "Kill you, kill me."

"What are you talking about?" said Hyper Sonic. "Robo Knux is coming!"

The robot was pacing toward them, his eyes ice blue. Sonic blinked-he had never seen Robo Knux use a different color setting.

Sally watched him without interest. "Yes. Don't touch him. Kill you. The chaos is strong ... it's so strong..."

Robo Knux stopped at the water's edge. Sonic felt his own chaos field warp and twist, and a wave of dizziness struck him through his shield of invincibility.

Suddenly he was afraid. The last time had felt such raw uncontrolled power, he had been the focal point of a chaos flux. He turned and grabbed Sally.

The world shattered into a million colored pieces. Sonic was outside the walls, careening bodiless through space, gawking at the fragments-then he opened his eyes and the world fell into place again. He was lying on the sand next to the cliffs, and the wall above him was crumbling where he had struck it. A rumble like thunder was still fading into the distance as the immense wave of power traveled over the countryside. Groaning, Sonic sat up and realized he was no longer glowing. Sally and Robo Knux were standing at the seaside, watching him with bland curiosity.

Sonic climbed to his feet, knees shaking. He felt weak and drained as if he had taken an electric shock. Had Sally done that to him? He checked his emerald belt to make sure it was still there, and plodded back toward the ocean, where Sally and Robo Knux waited for him. He glanced up at Destro and Jazz, who were just picking themselves up and looking confused.

Robo Knux motioned at Sonic. Sally waded out of the water, eyes blank. She walked toward Sonic like a puppet on strings, and Sonic froze. That wasn't the Sally he knew. "Sally," he called, "what's the matter with you?"

She smiled and extended a hand. "Rescue me, Sonic."

He backed away from her, eyes wide. "He's controlling you through the field, isn't he?"

Sally frowned and closed her eyes. For a second she swayed, then she looked up again, and her eyes were normal. Then her pupils contracted into blank blue. Ice blue. Like Robo Knux's.

Sonic clenched his teeth and said, "Sally, give me your hand." He wasn't Hyper this time, and nothing was going to make a salve out of Sally. She held out her hand, and he snatched her up, ignoring the chaos fields, and ran for the path that led up the cliff. Robo Knux ignited his jets and pursued, throwing up an arm to ward off the bullets from Jazz's gun.

Up on the cliffs, Jazz cursed. "D'Arvit! The caliber is too small!"

Destro ran to the top of the cliff path and waited, sword held ready. Sonic reached the top of the cliff, wheezing. Destro pointed at the castle. "Get her in there. The walls are shielded." Sonic nodded and dashed away just as Robo Knux flew to the top of the cliffs, claws extended. Destro sprang forward and swung his sword with all his strength.

Robo Knux was knocked to the ground, two of his dreadlock-jets sliced and pouring smoke. The robot snarled and cursed at Destro, backing away. Destro strode toward him, but Robo Knux turned and fled up the coast. Destro ignited his jetpack and followed him.

* * *

When Sonic carried Sally into the castle courtyard, Monty screamed and hid behind Cream. A chaos distortion was centered on Sally like a black wound, leaking power in all directions, and a cord snaked out of it, over the wall and out of sight.

Sonic laid Sally on the ground and knelt beside her. Eva and Cream hurried up to them. "What's wrong?" asked Eva. "Did that fiend hurt her?"

"No, Jazz didn't hit us," said Sonic. "She's caught in Robo Knux's chaos field."

Cream shoved her chao forward. "Any ideas on what to do?"

"She-she-" Monty stuttered, then hid his face against Cream's leg.

Sally sat up and shook her head. Through the wavering mess that was the chaos distortion, she could see everyone else's chaos fields like glowing auras. Sonic's was red and violet-angry and frightened. Cream's was a cheerful yellow, and Monty's was soothing blue. Eva had no field, and Sally watched as her own dark field was sucked into her. Somewhere out there, Robo Knux was laughing. It frightened Sally-he was planning to return for her.

"I never knew the lovely power of chaos," he whispered in her ear. "And what better way to drive Sonic mad than to pour my power into you until you die? You have a strong mind, but you are neutral to chaos." It was the same mesmerizing voice that had held her prisoner down on the beach when she so desperately wanted to run.

"He's going to kill me," she said to Sonic.

"I know he tried to kill you, but you're safe now," said Sonic.

Eva said, "Sally, you need to sit quietly. The distortion will abate."

Sally nodded and took deep breaths, trying to stay calm. But Robo Knux was still there. "You can't break out of it that easily," he sneered. "Wouldn't it be funny if I started pushing power into you right now, while they were all watching? Actually, that's a good idea. I think I'll do that."

She felt the field strengthen, squeezing her like a giant hand.

Monty said, "It's getting worse. She's scaring me!"

"He's trying to kill me," said Sally to Sonic. "He's pumping power into me."

Eva sat down beside her and took her hands. "I absorb chaos energy ... maybe I can buffer it." At her touch, Sally felt the pressure weaken. Presently Monty ventured up and placed his paws on her knee. The pressure weakened more, and Sally felt Monty's comfort. "The field's shrinking," said Monty.

Jazz appeared in the entrance, his gun slung over his shoulder. "What's going on?" he asked. Sally could see his chaos field, rippling and green, more controlled than Sonic's.

"They're sucking up Sally's chaos distortion," said sonic, talking so fast Sally had to sort out his syllables. "Robo Knux is linked to her and he's trying to kill her."

Cream ran to Jazz and hugged him, and he hugged her back without seeing her. "I don't get how a robot could attract chaos," he said, leaning his gun against the wall. "It's a machine. Chaos destroys machines."

"He's sure using it somehow."

"It, not 'he'," said Jazz. "Machines don't have genders."

Sonic bristled, already on edge from seeing Sally endangered. "The Mecha-bots have programmed genders. They're male."

"They're stinking robots!" snapped Jazz.

"Robo Knux is laughing at both of you," said Sally. "He says he doesn't care what you call him, because he's going to kill me and win."

Jazz and Sonic looked at her. "How do we stop it?" said Sonic.

"We have to stop the robot," said Jazz. "And the only way the robot could be harnessing such power is if it had a chaos emerald."

Sonic and Sally looked at each other. "Sonic," said Sally, "remember how the signal kept changing and moving around? Whenever we got close to it, Robo Knux would show up!"

"But his signal was in a different place," said Sonic.

Sally thought for a minute. "No," she said slowly. "I was picking up a ghost signal. I was tracking it from where Robo Knux had been, but when we reached the area, he had already left the area. That's why the signal kept moving around."

"But it's the green emerald," said sonic, forgetting about Jazz. "Why would it cause a distortion?"

"It's the way he's using it," said Sally. "He's sucking the global field into himself, and it can't enter his body because he's a machine, so it just spirals and tangles."

Sonic smacked a fist into his palm. "Great. Now we have something to go on. Robo Knux has the emerald, so if we get it away from him, the distortion will go away. Right?"

"Hopefully," said Sally. Eva and Monty had absorbed so much of the distortion that she felt normal, but the connection to the robot was still there, and he was listening. "He's heard everything," she added.

"Tell him I dare him to fight me," said Sonic, eyes flashing. "Single combat, chaos field to chaos field."

Robo Knux said nothing. Sonic watched Sally, who shook her head.

"What's the matter?" said Sonic. "Chicken?"

"He's mocking me," Robo Knux growled in Sally's ear. "I'll kill you both."

A surge of power blasted into Sally, and she shrieked. Eva was knocked to the ground, and Monty jumped away from her. "He's trying to kill me!" Sally gasped. She felt as if a million tons of lead was pressing down on her. Monty the chao climbed into her lap, trembling. He put his paws on her chest and closed his eyes, exerting all his strength to slow the flow of power. He pushed it out into a spiral, as much as he hated to-if Sally was in the eye of the chaos storm, the power would cause less harm to her. She held him, conscious of Robo Knux's furious flight up the coast, shoving his power at her.

Sonic hovered nearby, wanting to help Sally but not daring. Touching her meant setting foot in that chaos distortion and seeing the world explode into fragments again, a netherworld that he might not return from a second time. But Sally was suffering, and as Eva scrambled back to grab Sally's hands, and Jazz stepped outside to watch for robots, Sonic hated himself for his fear. Sally had become this way trying to save Cream, when he himself had bee off touring the countryside. She had fought Robo Knux hand to hand, and Sonic, who had faced down certain death before, could not summon the courage to comfort the girl he loved.

He pushed forward and clasped her free hand. Sally looked up and smiled, but her eyes had taken on that hollow look he had seen before. "Stay with us, Sal," he said. He looked down at her hand and turned it over. The angry red cuts shocked him, and the cut on her palm was still bleeding.

"I grabbed him by his claws," said Sally, looking at her hand. "It was silly of me."

"It was very brave," said Eva. "You were unarmed."

"I should have been there," said Sonic. "We can't even bandage your hands!" His chaos field added to Sally's distortion, making the distortion more powerful.

"Honey," said Eva, "you're making it worse."

Sonic released Sally and stormed out of the courtyard, hating chaos and everything that went with it.

Jazz was standing with his gun resting on the ground, peering up and down the coastline. Sonic stamped up to him. "If not for you this wouldn't have happened."

Jazz gave him a sharp look. "I'm lucky I got here when I did. You're the one who left his girlfriend all alone."

Sonic's retort was interrupted by the roar of a rocket, and Destro flew up and landed. There were two deep cuts across his upper arm, and his breastplate had been pared open like an aluminum can. He staggered as he landed and leaned on his sword. "He's coming. He's injured, but he was too fast for me. I need to recharge."

"Thanks, we can handle him," said Sonic. "Where is he?"

Destro pointed.

Robo Knux rounded the far corner of the castle and stood looking at them. His chest had opened to expose a cylinder with three rocket heads protruding from it. Jazz leveled his gun on the robot, but held his fire. Robo Knux didn't move, and there was a tense thirty seconds as they stared at each other.

"What do you want?" Sonic said at last.

"You challenged me," said the robot. "Chaos field to chaos field."

"Still want to do it?"

Robo Knux nodded. Two of his dreadlocks were missing.

Sonic glanced at Jazz and Destro. "Go into the castle, guys." They moved away, keeping their eyes on the robot.

They were halfway to the castle when Robo Knux fired a rocket at them. Jazz bolted for cover with Sonic-esque speed, and Destro ignited his jetpack and flew straight up. Sonic dodged away, and the rocket blew a fiery hole in the ground. Sonic charged through the smoke at Robo Knux, but the robot had vanished. Sonic kept moving, glancing into the courtyard to make sure the others were all right, when a wave of dizziness struck him. Robo Knux flashed out of nowhere and rammed Sonic with the flat of his arm, and Sonic went flying.

He landed on one knee, bounded to his feet without bothering to see how much fur he had scraped off, and whirled to face his enemy. He was just in time to dodge a swipe from diamond-tipped claws that would have sliced him like an apple, then took a kick to the stomach that knocked him into the castle wall.

Winded, Sonic forced himself to his feet and ran, gasping. When Robo Knux was close enough for hand to hand combat, his chaos field twisted Sonic's so much that Sonic lost his bearings.

As he ran, Robo Knux slid open panels on his arm to reveal a plasma cannon, which he had been charging for two days. The robot took aim at Sonic's fleeing figure and fired.

Sonic changed directions in mid-stride as a bolt of ultra-heated plasma flashed past him and ignited the grass. Sonic dodged away, his only consolation being that Robo Knux was firing away from his friends.

This same thought seemed to occur to Robo Knux. He turned and aimed his cannon at Sally, Eva, Cream and Monty.

"Is there nothing you won't do?" Sonic yelled.

Robo Knux made a pretense of stroking his chin in thought. "Let me think. No."

Sonic started toward him, and Robo Knux said, "By all means, keep moving forward. I can kill them in two shots."

Sonic froze.

Under the cover of the castle wall, Jazz held Eva's homemade rail gun, watching the power meter as it charged. "Get them back here," he hissed to Destro, who beckoned to the girls. Cream dashed to him, and Eva rose, helping Sally.

Robo Knux watched them. "Go ahead, leave. I have Sally too well ensnared." As he spoke, Sally froze and her eyes unfocused.

Eva planted herself in front of the squirrel. "Leave her alone, you fiend!"

Robo Knux looked at her and his eyes flashed. "Maybe I'll kill you, too. Seeing as you're the green rabbit's mate."

Sally had observed this skirmish from within her distortion, listening to Robo Knux's muttered curses and exclamations as he fought with Sonic. Poor Sonic, out there fighting for her! She had to do something, and she couldn't let Robo Knux take Eva hostage.

Now, as Robo Knux held her and Eva in his crosshairs, Sally took matters into her own hands. She stepped forward, keeping her face blank. It wasn't hard to do, for the distortion was doing its best to wipe her mind.

"Sally!" Sonic shouted. "Sally, what are you doing?"

Sally ignored him, concentrating on her zombie stare. Robo Knux watched her. "Yes, come to me," he purred in her ear. "Together our chaos fields have the power to blow this castle into the sea."

She felt their chaos fields strike and merge, and hesitated as the silent blast of power threatened to make her faint. She pushed forward anyway, and stepped up to the robot's side. He turned his gun on Eva, who was standing there with her mouth open.

Sally's skin crawled as she stood beside Robo Knux and looked at the scratches in his paint, the patches on his body, and the fine seams where his outer hull could fold open to reveal weapons. The chaos field was so strong she felt like she was being pulled apart at the seams, and spots swam in front of her eyes. If he had a chaos emerald, it must be embedded inside his body.

She felt a touch on her ankle and looked down. Monty the chao had followed her, and was shivering beside her foot. She picked him up stiffly.

"A chao," said Robo Knux. "How about I sharpen my claws on it?"

Monty talked fast. "There's something powerful inside his chest and Jazz has a rail gun so step aside."

Sally took two steps backward, and a projectile traveling above the speed of sound punched through Robo Knux as if he was made of paper.

"Clever," said the robot, picking himself up and looking at the hole through his torso. "However, the last time Sonic did that, I moved my internal core down six inches, so all you've done is provide me with an extra cooling vent."

But through the four-inch hole Sally could see the green glow of a chaos emerald.

"You know what?" Robo Knux continued, turning to look at Sonic, "I'm really peeved at you, so I'm going to kill your girlfriend to teach you a lesson." He held his gun to Sally's face.

Sally sprang forward, slid her hand through the hole into Robo Knux's hot interior, seized the emerald and wrenched it free, adding new cuts to her already gashed hand.

Robo Knux slammed her to the ground and grappled with her, trying to take the emerald from her, and around them the chaos field went haywire, a whirlwind of dust swirling into view, growing stronger and darker the longer they fought.

Sonic and Jazz struck the robot at the same time, one with a spindash, the other with the butt of his gun. They knocked Robo Knux off Sally and beat him toward the cliffs, moving so fast that they looked like a second whirlwind. Sally lay where she had fallen, holding the emerald to her chest and nursing her hand. Monty stood near her, gazing raptly at the emerald.

At the edge of the cliff Robo Knux broke free of Jazz and Sonic, leaped into space and ignited the jets in his dreadlocks. "I'm not finished with either of you," he snarled, and roared away.

* * *

Knuckles watched as the derobotizer reduced a piece of biometal to flaming cinders, and sprayed it with the fire extinguisher, teeth bared. He was ready to tear the machine to pieces. Instead he left the tree house, glided to the ground, and ran to a rock outcropping, where he had taken to venting his frustration. He smashed three boulders to pieces, broke the pieces, and carried them to a pile of broken rock he was making. He felt better when he finished, and went for a walk among the trees.

Sonic and Sally had been gone three days. There had been no word from them, not even a line to assure him they were looking for an emerald. During that period, Knuckles had persuaded Zephyer to eat three times. She was wasting away before his eyes, and the most horrible thing about it was that he could do nothing.

He had asked the Knothole doctor for help, who told him that Robotization trauma syndrome was psychological as well as physical, and to try giving her liquids. The last meal Knuckles had forced down her had been a milkshake, and he was planning to do it again in a few hours.

Knuckles circled a tree bigger around than a car, debating climbing it with his claws, and saw Tails preparing to climb the ladder to Eagle's Nest. "Why don't you fly?" Knuckles called.

Tails jumped and looked around. "Oh, hi Knuckles! I've tried flying up there, but I can't make it." He walked up to the echidna. "I wanted to talk to you, actually. Do you need any help with the derobotizer?"

"No," said Knuckles, walking off.

Tails followed him. "I helped build the derobotizer. I could help reconfigure it. You can't have much biometal left, and it's been, what, two months?"

Knuckles considered. He was at the end of his rope idea-wise, running out of biometal, and time was running out for Zephyer. Pride was not an option. He turned to the fox. "All right. Let's go up to the workshop."

Once inside the workshop, Tails poured over Knuckles's notes for an hour while Knuckles thumbed through a cookbook, trying to find something that might tempt Zephyer. At last Tails looked up with bright eyes. "Have you tried changing the malfilibration frequency?"

"If it goes past fifty-eight hundred, the syncronite carbonium filter becomes unstable," said Knuckles, throwing the cookbook on the control panel. "And that makes the nanipolar beam pulse too fast."

"Maybe we need a higher pulse rate," said Tails, grabbing a pair of needle nose pliers and prodding the machine's exposed innards. "I'm going to change the Z-axis synchronization, you've got it misaligned."

"It's not misaligned," said Knuckles. "I moved it to unbalance the Y-axis, because they were generating too much heat."

The conversation continued in this vein as Tails investigated every change that Knuckles had made. Knuckles was relieved to talk out his ideas with someone who understood them, and was amazed at some of the changes Tails proposed.

Tails decided they needed a certain kind of wire router, and retreated into a corner with a welding torch to make one. He had made so many of his own parts for projects that he could take a few bits of metal and wire and make anything.

Knuckles noticed Zephyer standing outside the window, and went outside. "Why don't you come in?"

"I didn't want to disturb you," said Zephyer, hands clasped behind her back. "Does Tails have any ideas?"

"A few," said Knuckles, watching the listless way Zephyer's eyes slid past him. "Come have lunch with me."

A smile tugged at the corner of her mouth, as if eating had become a joke. "All right."

Knuckles took her to the kitchen hut and made her sit at the tiny table while he dumped several kinds of fruit into a blender. He poured the resulting mixture into two cups and handed one to Zephyer, sitting down across from her.

She raised the cup to her lips, then set it down again. "I can't."

"Yes you can," Knuckles growled.

She looked at him, then gazed out the window. Knuckles watched her, the fear in his heart gaining strength. He had never seen anyone simply quit trying. "Zeff," he said, leaning forward, "don't give up now."

She looked at him without expression.

"You have to keep fighting," said Knuckles. "You're a fighter. You're an echidna! You can't let the metal win."

She rested her head on one hand. "I'm just ... so tired. I've been fighting it for so long, you have no idea what it's like."

"One more day is all I'm asking," said Knuckles. "Please. Fight it one more day."

She looked at him a moment, then sighed and sipped her drink. Knuckles kept an eye on her as he drank his own. "Is there anything I can do?" he asked.

"No," said Zephyer, then paused. "Yes. Get the metal off me. I don't care how bad it hurts me. If I die, then at least I'll die derobotized." For a second the old flash was back in her eyes.

"All right," said Knuckles. "I'm sure Tails and I will have come up with something by tomorrow."

"Yes." Zephyer lapsed back into her stupor and drank half of her drink without noticing. At last she shoved her glass aside and sighed. "No more."

"Come back to the workshop with me," said Knuckles. "Tails is brilliant." He wanted to keep an eye on her, but couldn't say it.

Zephyer nodded, got up and followed him outside, groping at the wall to support herself. Knuckles took her arm. "Fight it, Zeff."

"I'm losing," she panted. "Why fight if I'm losing?"

"You won't lose," said Knuckles through his teeth. "Because I won't let you."

Tails looked up as they walked in, and he stared at Zephyer as Knuckles helped her to a chair in the corner. As Knuckles walked up to Tails, the fox gave him a horrified look. Tails had not seen Zephyer since her downward spiral began, and the gauntness of her face shocked him.

"I've added a new calibration setup," said Tails, pointing to a series of circuits. "Instead of deactivating the nanite swarm, it sends them a command to break apart."

"I've tried that," said Knuckles. "Biometal nanites are bonded. They don't act like typical ore-based nanites."

"I thought of that, so I painted this piece of biometal with lubricant," said Tails, placing an oily metal strip inside the glass tube, under the lens. "The nanites break up without fragmenting, so the heat won't be so extreme."

He turned on the machine, and the yellow beam illuminated the metal strip. For a second nothing happened-then the strip shattered, bits plinking off the tube like shrapnel. Knuckles and Tails exchanged glances.

"Well, it's progress," said Tails. He flipped off the machine and opened the panel over its insides.

Knuckles opened the tube and picked up the shattered bits. "If we could make them separate with less force, that might work. What lubricant did you use?"

"Vaseline," said Tails, grinning sheepishly. "It was all I could find."

In the corner, Zephyer lifted her head. "Try using an organic lubricant, like butter."

"Butter?" said Knuckles. "Why?"

"If the bionanites liked the Vaseline, maybe they'll like something organic even better."

Knuckles looked at Tails. "Be right back." He sprinted from the hut.

Tails looked at Zephyer. "What do you polish yourself with?"

"A bottle of polish," said Zephyer. "But I oil myself with all kinds of things, and animal fat and vegetable oil seem to work the best."

Knuckles returned with an armful of bottles and containers from the kitchen. "I got everything that resembles oil," said Knuckles. "Let's try this."

Together Knuckles and Tails smothered biometal fragments in everything from lard to palm oil, and watched what happened when they were placed in the derobotizer. The metal broke apart with varying degrees of violence, and the one with the mildest amount of force was the metal greased with olive oil. The biometal bonded with it and the nanites eased apart.

Knuckles looked at Zephyer, who was watching with the first sign of interest she had shown in days. "I think this is it, Zeff."

"Good," she said. "You want to derobotize me right now?"

Knuckles had a vision of her dying before his eyes, and thought of the green chaos emerald that he was certain he still needed. "Let me make some calls first," he said, and sprinted from the room.

* * *


	8. Chapter 8

Sally felt the power drain from her like water into the ground, leaving her weak and empty. But she had the green chaos emerald in both hands, the key to Robo Knux's power and the cause of the field distortion. "Mission accomplished," she thought, and was wondering how long it would take to hike back to the Cyclone when Sonic stooped over her. "Sal, are you okay?"

"Fine," she said, sitting up and handing the emerald to him. He took it without a second glance and helped her to her feet. He looked at her freshly cut hands and sucked in his breath through his teeth. "Ooo Sal!"

"Robo Knux had sharp edges," said Sally, wincing.

Jazz trotted up and glanced at Sally's hands. "Scratched up, eh? Let's go down to Windbay, they can patch you up there."

Sonic ran into the old castle and emerged a moment later, struggling into the harness. Jazz snickered and pretended to sneeze. "Yeah, laugh it up," growled Sonic. "Help me put this on, somebody."

"I will!" said Cream, scampering out to him.

Sonic side eyed her. "Uh, thanks Cream, but I was thinking of someone taller."

"I'll give you a hand," said Jazz, smirking and setting his gun aside. "What is it, a parachute harness?"

"It's a saddle," said Sonic, flushing for no reason. "This strap goes around here and connects to this-"

"Cream," said Sally, "could you get me my computer from back in the castle?"

"Sure!" said the rabbit, and skipped away to pick up the computer and tracker.

"You sure she won't hurt it?" said Eva, who had misgivings about letting her daughter handle electronics.

"She has the chao," said Sally. "She won't hurt anything."

"That's the trouble with chaos fields," said Eva as Cream ran back to them with Nicole. "They never do what you expect."

"Here it is!" said Cream, depositing the computer and tracker in Sally's hands.

"Thanks," said Sally, flipping on Nicole. "It works," she said as the screen lit up, and Sally checked for any messages from home. There were two, both from Knuckles. The first one was dated three days ago, and read, "Let me know when you start tracking an emerald, I need to know how much time I have to tweak the DR. Also, pick up Max on your way home. He's necessary for chaos healing."

The second one was dated an hour ago, and it read, "Zephyer's going downhill fast, I have to derobotize her. Please tell me you've found an emerald."

Going downhill fast.

The words struck a pang of horror through Sally's heart. She had seen the signs of RTS growing in Zephyer for two months, but had told herself that she was mistaken. Going downhill fast. Knuckles must have been frantic. Sally looked at the chaos emerald in Sonic's hand and wondered how soon they could get home.

She created a new message and typed, "Knuckles, we have the green chaos emerald, but the situation is a little complicated." She stared at this sentence and wondered if she should bother him with the details. Probably not. She went on, "We'll be home as soon as possible, probably by the end of the week." She signed and transmitted it, and sat staring at Nicole's screen.

"All ready, Sal?" said Sonic, walking up. The harness was buckled on lopsided, but Sally ignored it.

"Sonic," she said, "we need to get home. Knuckles sent me a message, he needs to derobotize Zephyer right away. She has RTS."

Sonic blanched. "She does? Oh heck." He looked at the emerald in his hand. "Sal, this is no good without Max. I can't do chaos heal, and neither can Knux."

"Chaos heal?" said Jazz, looking at them. "What's this, now?"

"Got a friend who's dying," said Sonic. "We need to get home. Actually, I could go and Sally could come home afterward."

Sally looked down. Sonic was faster, of course he should go. He always went by himself. Sally was just extra baggage.

Sonic was still speaking. "I learned to chaos relocate with this thing, I should be able to jump right to the chao gardens, then right up to Knothole." He stepped away from the group, still wearing his harness, and squinted into the emerald. There was a long pause as they all watched him. Then Sonic said, "Chaos relocate!" There was a twinkle of light and he vanished.

"So much for him," said Jazz, staring at the place where Sonic had been. "Come on Sally-it is Sally, isn't it?-we'll take you up to Windbay. It's only a couple of miles."

Sally swallowed and hung Nicole and the tracker around her neck. Sonic was gone, and the world had lost its charm.

* * *

The journey was instantaneous, but it was more than two thousand miles, and Sonic arrived in the middle of the chao gardens in a state of exhaustion. He collapsed to his hands and knees as the chao oohed and ahhed, and ran up to him.

"You got in without a pass!" said a tiny bird chao. "We should tell on you."

"No time," Sonic panted, wondering if he was going to pass out. The chao voices sounded metallic and distant, and there was a white haze in the corners of his vision. "Do you know where Max and Velocity and them are?"

All the chao pointed to the rear wall. "Next door."

"Thanks." Sonic dragged himself to his feet, and jogged to the wall. It was eight feet high, but Sonic's supersonic legs had jumped higher than that. He vaulted over it with a running jump, but as he went over it he put his hands down on broken glass on top of the wall, and landed in the far garden with a gash across his palm that matched Sally's. Since when did the Chao Company top their walls with broken glass? He yanked off his glove and sucked the wound, trying to stop the bleeding.

Velocity appeared at Sonic's ankle with shining eyes. "Sonic!" he whispered. "You broke in! What happened to your hand?"

"Broken glass," said Sonic, showing his chao the gruesome details.

Velocity was impressed. "Oh yeah, they put that there to keep anyone from breaking in and stealing chao, like that one time. What are you doing here, anyway?"

"I need to kidnap Max," Sonic whispered. "Zephyer's dying and Max can chaos heal." He held up the emerald.

Velocity's eyes widened, and he nodded and raced off like a miniature Sonic.

Sonic leaned against the wall, willing himself not to pass out. Chaos relocate had never done that to him before.

Velocity returned with the other Knothole chao, who loved the idea that Sonic had broken in to kidnap Max. "If he's going home, is it really kidnapping?" asked Pilot.

"Don't tell anyone what I did," said Sonic, picking up Max. "Try and cover for him as long as possible. I'll bring him back in a few days." He studied the emerald and said, "Chaos relocate!"

Fifty, one hundred, one hundred fifty miles, and Sonic's strength gave out. The teleport dropped them in the southern reaches of the Great Forest. "Oh dang," said Sonic as his feet hit the ground. He pitched to all fours and collapsed in a dead faint on top of Max and the chaos emerald.

The water chao wriggled out from under the hedgehog and stood looking at him in alarm. "Sonic, wake up! We can't stop here! We're in the forest, and there might be predators!"

Sonic didn't respond, even when Max shook him with his flippers. Max thought of using the chaos emerald himself, but couldn't lift Sonic enough to reach it. Worried and frightened, Max climbed up on Sonic's back on the saddle and sat there, partly to watch for danger, and partly to feel if Sonic was still breathing. Sonic was, so Max settled down to wait.

* * *

Knuckles checked his computer messages and picked up Sally's reply. "The end of the week!" he muttered. "I can't wait that long, Zephyer has to be derobotized now." She would die if he didn't. But there was every chance she would die during derobotization; to date only two RTS victims had survived the process.

He put his head in his hands for a few minutes and weighed his options. Zephyer might not live another two days. If the metal was off, she might have a fighting chance. He was pretty sure that the setup he and Tails had engineered would strip the metal without damaging Zephyer's body. There was also the chance that his judgment was skewed, because this was his girlfriend he was dealing with. He had her life in his hands, and it terrified him.

Knuckles reached for his communicator and held it for a moment, knowing that once he pressed the button, his choice was made. He had nearly killed Talon through a hasty decision, and didn't want to make the same mistake. But he was gambling with Zephyer's life. No, he had to chance using the derobotizer now, or she would be too weak, even for chaos heal.

He pressed the button and spoke to the Knothole switchboard operator. "Get me Doctor Shepherd, please."

There was a click, then Shepherd's voice said, "Dr. Shepherd, how may I help you?"

"This is Knuckles, up at Eagle's Nest," said Knuckles, the words coming slow and heavy. "I'm going to derobotize Zephyer."

"You got the machine working, eh?" said the doctor. "Give me an hour, I'll bring everybody up there."

"She has RTS."

There was a brief pause. "Oh. I'll be there in half an hour."

Knuckles turned off the communicator and sat looking at it. There was no turning back now.

He got up and walked out of his hut, and stood looking across the treetops. At this moment he missed his island so badly that it was a physical ache. But ever since Zephyer had sneaked out there, he had sworn not to go back without her.

He strode along the walkway to the derobotizer room and pushed open the door. Tails was screwing together the machine housing, and didn't look up. Zephyer was slumped in her chair with her feet on a box, dozing. Knuckles pulled up a roll of wire and sat beside her. "The doctor's on his way. Half an hour."

She nodded. Her eyes were sunk in their sockets, and her jawbone jutted like a knife blade. His fear rose to new heights and formed a knot in his throat. He wanted to touch her, comfort her, but knew she would draw away. Well, so what? In half an hour she might be dead. He put his arms around her and kissed the top of her head, then laid his cheek against it. She sighed and clasped one of his hands, and did not pull away. He rocked her slightly, shocked at how light she had become.

She was letting him hold her. She had surrendered-she didn't care anymore-and it scared him. "Zeff, you have to fight," he whispered. "We're so close. Hang in there, I'm with you all the way." She gave his hand a weak squeeze.

He held her until the doctor arrived, then reluctantly released her and went to warm up the machinery.

Dr. Shepherd was a collie who had come to Knothole when the robians were being derobotized and had all kinds of weird injuries, from broken bones to brain damage. After the robians were taken care of, Shepherd saw that Knothole lacked a proper doctor, and settled in to fill the niche. He had been in Knothole two years and had built up a respectable clientele, and was familiar with derobotization injuries. He had followed Zephyer's case since his arrival, and like everyone else in the village, he knew the story of Knuckles and Zephyer's rocky engagement.

When he entered the room, he strode to Zephyer and helped her to her feet. "Mm, RTS all right," he said, peering into her eyes. "Not as bad as some, though. You've a good chance of recovery."

"You think so?" said Zephyer, a little hope creeping into her face.

"Yes," said Shepherd. "How's the machine, Knuckles? Tails?"

"Good to go," said Tails, giving a thumbs up. "We had the frame collapsed for easier access, so I'm expanding it."

"The scanning equipment works all right," said Knuckles, watching the three monitor screens that managed X-rays, bioscan and nanite control. He turned and looked at Zephyer. "Ready when you are."

Without a word Zephyer stepped onto the stand, stood while Tails poured olive oil all over her metal, and waited as the plexiglass shield was lowered around her.

Knuckles wished Sally were there to work the controls. "Tails," he said, "do you know how to do this?"

"Duh," said the fox. "Are you really nervous?"

"Just correct me if I do the wrong thing," said Knuckles. His hands were sweating through his gloves, and his fur stood up and lay down in waves. He started the preliminary scans. Everything was normal. He glanced at Zephyer, and saw her eyes were fixed on him. Dr. Shepherd and two nurses were standing beside the tube with a stretcher, ready for anything.

Knuckles inhaled and selected the 'derobotizer activate' button on screen. In the tube, the unfiltered lens flicked on and began beaming instructions to the nanites. Knuckles turned to watch, his stomach curled in an anxious knot.

When the derobotizer worked on a regular patient, it stripped the metal from the feet up, an inch at a time. With the biometal fragments, they broke into smaller pieces. But Zephyer's biometal was a prototype with a slightly different chemical makeup, and it didn't break up. It splintered.

The metal exploded off her, ripping chunks out of her skin, coming off too fast, too fast, she would go into shock. But there was nothing Knuckles could do; stopping the program was more dangerous than letting it finish. The metal tore off at random all over her body, leaving bloody holes and cuts. Zephyer screamed, but the pain instantly exceeded her pain tolerance level, and she fainted as the derobotizer finished its ruthless work. "I've killed her," said Knuckles over and over, biting his knuclaws as he watched. "I've killed her, I've killed her."

At last it was over, and the tube lifted. The doctor and nurses pounced on the limp echidna, wrapped her in towels that were instantly soaked with blood, threw her on the stretcher and whisked her next door for emergency treatment. Knuckles raced after them, only to have Shepherd slam the door in his face and yell, "I'll save her if I can!"

Knuckles was tempted to break the door down, but decided against it and sat on the doorstep, straining his ears for any sound from inside the medical ward. For a while there was an anxious murmur of voices, which faded to silence with an occasional word spoken. They must be sewing her up. "I've killed her," Knuckles whispered again, cradling his head in his hands.

When there was no sign of the doctor emerging, Knuckles got up and went back in the workshop. He thought he was saving Zephyer, and he had hurt her more. There was no way he could have known her metal was so lethal, but he kicked himself anyway. He had known her metal was a prototype-why hadn't he tested it to find out what it was made of? How could he have overlooked that one little fact?

Tails had pulled out the box under the derobotizer where all the nanites gravitated, and was picking through them with a pencil when Knuckles entered. He looked up, and his eyes were glassy with tears. He blinked furiously and said, "Hi Knuckles. Um, you know, this metal-it's not like anything I've ever seen."

Knuckles glanced in the box, saw the bloodstained metal, and turned away. "I don't want to look at it."

"I cleaned off this piece, here." Tails handed it to Knuckles. The outside was smooth and polished, but the inside was covered in tiny gray spikes, like icicles.

"What the heck?" said Knuckles.

"It's all like that," said Tails. "Some of the spikes are two inches long. It's like it was feeding off her."

Knuckles sucked in his breath. "You mean her biometal was ... parasitic?"

"It was a prototype," said Tails soberly. "Who knows what it was doing?"

Knuckles felt bile rising in his throat, and swallowed hard several times. No wonder the Robotization trauma had hit so fast and so hard. The metal was eating her alive. He flung the fragment back in the box and wiped off his hand as if he was touching something foul. "Wait until I tell her."

"I don't think the wounds were that deep," said Tails. "It's just that she lost a lot of blood." He pointed at the reddened platform inside the machine.

Knuckles turned white. "Right. I'm ... I'm going for a walk." He bolted from the room.

Tails stood gazing at the parasitic biometal for a long moment. Then he, too, dashed from the room.

* * *


	9. Chapter 9

Destro plodded along the footpath behind Jazz, Cream, Eva and Sally, weary and discouraged. The robot had escaped. "Was this what you wanted?" he thought to the Lightgiver. "That thing will cause havoc wherever it goes. I had a chance to stop it, and I failed. What do I do now?"

The Lightgiver did not reply.

Destro looked down at his armor, which had taken on a grayish tint to match his weariness. Maybe he should rephrase the question. "Should I go with them to Windbay?"

The answer came at once. "Yes." The Lightgiver wanted specific questions that required specific answers.

Cream dropped behind the others to join him. "Hi Destro! That robot was mean, but we beat him, didn't we?"

"Yes." Cream again with her infernal questions. Why in the world had the Lightgiver put her in his path? But under his irritation was a faint pleasure that she had sought him out of her own accord-no other creature had ever tried to befriend him. His armor absorbed wisps of her chaos field, and his tiredness ebbed. "I didn't know your father was Jazz Jackrabbit," said Destro.

"That's him!" said Cream, setting Monty on the ground. He bounced behind them on his short legs. "He says he's going to start taking me to the shooting range when we get home. That way if that robot comes back, I can help fight him. Won't that be great?"

"Yes." There was a few seconds of silence, then Destro added, "Maybe you could learn to control your chaos field."

"Can you do that?" said Cream in astonishment.

"I do," said Destro.

"You do? How?"

Destro was silent a moment, then said, "It requires concentration."

"I can concentrate!" said Cream, skipping for a few steps. "I'm a great concentrator! I drink concentrate orange juice every morning!"

A ticklish feeling welled up in Destro's chest, and it took him a second to recognize it. Laughter. Cream was making him laugh! He had not laughed in years, although he did have a cynical laugh he used in battles. He kept a straight face. "You have to keep all the power inside you and only let it out when you need it."

"Ooo, power," said Cream. "So I could hold a light bulb and turn it on if I wanted?"

"No," said Destro. A smile attacked his face, but he beat it off. "You know how chaos feels when you're upset. If you concentrate it inside you-"

"-I could put it in a can, like orange juice!" Cream exclaimed. "Then I could pour some out whenever I needed it, couldn't I?"

The smile attacked harder this time, and Destro's face disobeyed him and smiled. "No, that's the wrong kind of concentrate."

Cream skipped in circles and chanted, "Concentrated chaos, concentrated chaos!" Bits of dust flew around her feet, disturbed by her chaos field.

Up ahead, Eva looked over her shoulder at her frolicking daughter and the armored fox. "Cream, why don't you come up here?"

Cream skipped up to her. "I was talking to Destro. He said I can concentrate my chaos, just like orange juice!"

"Oh really," said Eva, glancing at her husband.

Jazz walked back to Destro, and Sally and Eva slowed until they caught up with them. Jazz was asking questions, and Destro's walls were up.

"Can you control your chaos field?"

"Yes."

"Could you teach Cream to?"

"No."

"Why not?"

"Too young."

"Is it difficult?"

"Yes."

"What can you do with your field?"

Destro didn't answer. Jazz gave Eva an exasperated look, and Eva shrugged.

Sally had been watching Destro. She saw the mask was in place, and yet Cream kept going out of her way to be near him. Destro did not look like the kind of person a parent wanted their child to hang around, with his armor, battle scars and fierce expression. But how much of it was his mask? From what Sally had gathered, Destro had saved Cream from Robo Knux at great inconvenience to himself.

Jazz quizzed Destro all the way to Windbay, and the fox's answers only became more cryptic. Sally watched the way Destro carried himself and the patient way he put up with Jazz's prodding. For a warrior, Destro had a long fuse. He was Freedom Fighter material. Sally had adopted many angry vigilantes over the years and knew the signs of one: the silence, the walls, and the fondness for fighting. But they were not her favorite of people.

Sally had a limit-after so many days in the company of angry vigilantes, she became either crazy or depressed and had to retreat from public view for a while. This was when she turned to Sonic. Although Sonic had his bad days, he was usually open and optimistic, even in the face of overwhelming odds. Sally relied on him for moral support, and without him she would have lost her mind long ago. And here she was, staying with strangers and the type of person who drove her nuts, and Sonic was gone.

Windbay was a little down built in tiers on the hills overlooking the ocean. It boasted a wide, natural bay full of fishing boats. A constant wind blew off the ocean, and the trees only grew leaves on one side.

Jazz made a beeline for the doctor's office (he knew where every medical facility was located in Central Mobius), and led Sally inside. Half an hour later she emerged with her hands wrapped in neat white bandages, and the doctor followed her out. "No stitches needed," he said. "The ones on her palms were clean, but the back of her right hand took some patching. Come see me in twenty-four hours and we'll see how they're healing."

"All right, thanks," said Jazz.

"Oh good, all taken care of," said Eva, examining Sally's bandages with relief. "How about lunch?"

Sally's hands stung from the antiseptic, but the reassuring pressure of the bandages helped detract from the pain, and she was able to think about other things. Like where Sonic had gone. If he could teleport the way he said, he should have come back by now. Maybe he had trouble in the chao garden, or maybe the derobotization had gone wrong.

Sally slipped open Nicole's screen with the three fingers protruding from the bandage and checked for messages. Nothing.

"What's the matter?" said Eva. "Are you expecting a letter?"

"Sonic should have come back by now," said Sally. "He never delays doing anything."

Eva patted her shoulder. "He's probably all right. He's just so busy he can't get back right away."

"I'm also worried about our friend," said Sally. "I hope she's all right."

They came to an outdoor restaurant and ordered sandwiches. Sally sat at a table and set up the chaos tracker. She would track down Sonic and see where he was. If he were in Eagle's Nest, she would know he was with Zephyer.

>From the satellite, Sally targeted West Mobius and zoomed in. Sonic's blip and the emerald's blip were together, and were south of Knothole, in the woods. Sally zoomed in and watched the circle of light. It did not move. She watched it the whole time she was eating her sandwich, oblivious to the conversation around her. Sonic was sitting in one spot with the emerald. What was he doing? He wasn't hurt, or his field would send out random flashes.

Sally wiped off her hands and typed a message to Knuckles. "Knux-Sonic chs-teleported to mnland with C.E., stoppd in sth great forest, smthing wrong. Is Zef OK? Sal."

Typing with three fingers was a lot of work. She closed Nicole, turned off the tracker, and sat staring at the ocean, feeling cut off and alone.

* * *

Every thirty minutes Knuckles returned to the door of the medical hut and listened to changes. When none were forthcoming, he jumped off the railing and glided around Eagle's Nest until he lost enough altitude to land. Then he climbed up the trunk of one of the giant trees with his knuclaws, arrived on the walkway, and checked for any word from the doctor.

At two o'clock, three hours after the derobotizer incident, Dr. Shepherd opened the door to find Knuckles sitting on the doorstep with his chin in one hand. Knuckles jumped up. "Hey! How is she? Is she all right?"

Shepherd shook his head. "It's bad, Knuckles. Come in." He stood aside, and Knuckles bounded inside.

The odor of antiseptics hit him as he walked to the bed and looked at the figure crumpled on it. Zephyer was swathed in bandages, and blood still oozed from under some of them. An IV was fed into her left hand, and an oxygen mask was clamped over her nose and mouth. "Does she need that?" Knuckles asked, pointing at it.

"Yes," said the doctor. "One of her lungs collapsed. She's bleeding internally, and she's lost a lot of blood. Frankly, I've never seen a derobotization like this."

"No," said Knuckles hollowly. He was shocked at how different she looked without the metal-her head looked too big for her body, and her arms and legs were thin and frail. He took her right hand and found he could encircle her wrist with his thumb and forefinger. "What else?" he asked quietly.

Shepherd looked at Zephyer and shook his head. "Lots, but let me put it this way. I give her three days."

Knuckles could believe it. A voice in the back of his mind said, "You knew she wouldn't survive. You knew that somehow, something would go wrong. You should have waited." But the metal would have eaten her even more, and she might have died in the derobotizer.

"Could I stay with her a while?" he asked. "She might wake up."

"She's under some heavy painkillers, but okay," said Shepherd, pulling up a chair.

Knuckles sat down and watched Zephyer breathe. He could hear the soft throb of the respirator, and remembered the time he had to use one before his lungs had shut down after inhaling terbium spores. He wondered if he had ever told Zephyer about it, then wondered if he'd ever get the chance.

He held one of her little bandaged hands and wished he could pump some of his own vitality into her. Give her enough of his fight to make her, in turn, fight for her life. She had stopped wanting to live before the metal came off. Now she faced horrid amounts of pain, and lacked the willpower to see it through.

Knuckles stroked her hair and talked to her, telling her he was there and would stick by her, that she had everything to live for, and that he loved her. The derobotizer had worked, and she still had a chance. Please, please, wouldn't she try to live?

The churning emotions inside him were driving him toward tears-love for her, fear for her, and an overpowering homesickness for his island. He wondered if she felt the same homesickness, and if so, maybe he could remind her of it.

Knuckles had been sitting there a long time when her eyes opened. They gazed at each other, Zephyer's eyes glazed with painkillers. She squeezed his hand, and he squeezed back, smiling.

"Hi," she murmured under the oxygen mask.

"Hi," he whispered back. "How do you feel?"

"Bad," she whispered.

"You're going to be all right," Knuckles told her.

She closed her eyes a moment. "I'm not ... afraid ... to die."

He swallowed. "Who said anything about dying?"

Her eyes narrowed with a faint shadow of her former self. "I can ... read you ... like a book ... Knuckles Echidna."

He frowned. "You're not going to die, because if you do, I'll kill you."

She smiled and clasped his hand. "You would. Is there ... a plan B?"

"Yes," said Knuckles. "Two days from now."

"I can ... last that long," she murmured. She began to drift to sleep again, and Knuckles sat with her, feeling the feeble pulse in her wrist. Two days seemed like a long time, but at least she was in good spirits.

He sat with her all afternoon, talking to her when she awoke and playing with her hair when she was asleep. The doctor shooed him out at six, and Knuckles stretched his stiff muscles and went for a walk.

He wound up in the workshop with the computer to check his messages. Tails was busily rebuilding the derobotizer with its original configuration. The box of biometal scraps was nowhere in sight, and Knuckles was thankful.

"How is she?" asked Tails.

"She wakes up now and then," said Knuckles, typing a few commands. "She's in bad shape."

"I hope she makes it."

"Me too."

Sally's cryptic message about Sonic came up, and Knuckles read it four times, feeling the urge to leap up and cheer. If Sonic was in the Great Forest, maybe Knuckles could find him before Zephyer had slipped any further. He dashed off a reply to Sally and said, "Tails, leave the machine for a bit. Sonic overreached himself and teleported into the woods south of here."

"All the way from Central Mobius?" said Tails in disbelief. "You can really teleport that far?"

"Sonic tried it and burned out," said Knuckles. "Go get your short-range emerald tracker, we'll need it to find him."

* * *

Max the chao paced around the fallen Sonic as the minutes stretched into hours, and the shadows under the trees began to lengthen. "Oh Sonic, why won't you wake up?" he begged. It was chilly under the trees, and although birds chirped in the canopy, it was silent on the forest floor.

Sonic's breathing was slow and heavy, as if he was in a deep sleep. His left hand, cut by glass, had bled through his glove and dried, and Max hated to think of what would happen when Sonic pulled his glove off. Sonic's other hand was tucked under him, clutching the chaos emerald. Max tried over and over to lift Sonic enough to reach it, but he wasn't strong enough.

As evening approached, the chill began to penetrate Max's chubby body, and he snuggled up to Sonic for warmth. He listened to the hedgehog's rhythmic breathing and hoped he wouldn't sleep all night.

Sonic's breathing sped up and became shallow, and Max lifted his head. Either Sonic was dreaming, or he was waking up. He crawled up to peer into Sonic's face. Sonic groaned, prying his eyes open. "Ugh," he said, lifting his head. "Dang, my arm's asleep." He sat up and his arm flopped at his side, dropping the chaos emerald. Max pounced on it and held it lovingly in his flippers.

"Hi Max," said Sonic, massaging his dead arm, then squinting at his bloodied glove. "Man, what happened to me?"

"We did a chaos teleport, but we didn't go far enough," said Max. "You sort of fainted on top of me."

"Sorry about that," said Sonic, rubbing his chest where he had been lying on the emerald. "I feel like one of those dried fly husks in a spider web."

"Could you teleport us to Knothole?"

"Max, I don't have enough energy to stand up," said Sonic. "If you use that emerald to turn into your large form, maybe you could carry me."

Max eyed him. "I'm an amphibian. I could carry you in the water, but not on land."

Sonic groaned and pulled himself to his feet. "I guess I can walk."

"Let me help you," said Max, biting the emerald. The emerald's power flowed into him, and he swelled to a four-foot tall creature with a sea turtle head, a wide, flat body, and powerful frog-like hind legs. The emerald embedded itself in the roof of his mouth, and his mouth glowed green when he spoke. "Lean on me, Sonic."

Sonic braced a hand on Max's back, and walked into the woods with the giant chao hopping beside him.

* * *

On Central Mobius the sun was two hours from setting, and the Jackrabbits had located a hotel to stay in for the night. It overlooked the beach, and the Jackrabbits decided to take a walk and let Cream and Monty play in the water. Sally stayed in the hotel room. She felt as if she had encroached on their hospitality long enough, and besides, she was tired.

Destro had taken the room next door, although it was clear he would rather be elsewhere. He seemed determined to stay with them, however, and Sally wondered at him. One thing she had learned about his type, however, was that one did not question them.

She opened the sliding door and stepped onto the room's balcony. She was on the second floor, and looked out across a wide lawn studded with trees. Sally sat for a while, absorbing the quiet. Undemanding solitude was something she had lacked in recent months, and it was like balm to her soul.

She heard the shower turn on in Destro's room, and smiled. He may not like other people, but there was nothing wrong with enjoying a few luxuries, like hot water. Suddenly she missed Knothole, and Tails, and Sonic. Especially Sonic. She got up, fetched Nicole and the tracker, and turned them on.

A message from Knuckles awaited her. "Sounds like Sonic tried to use more power than was good for him. I'll bet he fainted in mid-teleport and didn't make it here. I'm going out to find him with Tails. Zephyer's bad off. De-ro. worked, but it hurt her bad. Details later.-K."

Fainted in mid-teleport? It sounded dangerous to Sally, but Knuckles didn't sound worried. And Zephyer was bad off ... she hoped Knuckles could find Sonic. She tuned the tracker for home, located Sonic, and zoomed in. Thank goodness, he was moving at last. She pulled out to scan for Knuckles. Knuckles was harder to locate because his signature was more controlled, but Sally spotted him moving south from the vicinity of Eagle's Nest. If she watched, she would see when Knuckles found Sonic, and maybe even when they used the emerald on Zephyer. It made her feel close to them to see them, and yet more homesick than ever.

Sally watched their movements for a while, then panned out to refresh her view. Then she froze, heart leaping into her mouth.

A chaos-object like a hurricane was moving across the ocean toward West Mobius with incredible speed. Headed toward Knothole. But she had taken his emerald! Where had he found another one? Sally reached for Nicole, typed a futile warning, and sent it. Knuckles and Sonic were far from any computers, and Sally was an observer only. She clenched her fists. Not this time.

Sally estimated Robo Knux's arrival time at twenty minutes, set aside the tracker, and peered toward the ocean, thinking of Jazz and his family, but they were nowhere in sight. She went out in the hall and knocked on Destro's door.

The shower had stopped some time ago, and now the door opened and Destro looked out at her. His helmet was off, and for a second Sally was struck by how nice-looking he was. Then he clamped it on his head and said, "What do you want?"

"Come here, quick," said Sally, leading him into her room. She handed him the tracker and pointed to the hurricane. "Robo Knux has grown stronger, and he's headed for my village on West Mobius. That's Sonic right there."

Destro frowned as he studied the images. "Can you warn them?"

"They don't have their computers or anything, and communicators don't have a range that long." Sally couldn't keep the panic out of her voice. "He's going to ambush them. What can we do?"

Destro held up a hand. "I'll ask." He closed his eyes for a moment, and Sally watched him pray. That was something she hadn't expected. He sat quietly for a few minutes, then opened his eyes. "We need to find Cream, Jazz and Eva." He bolted from the room, and Sally followed.

They collided with the Jackrabbits on the terrace, where they were trooping back to the hotel. Sally explained things in a hushed voice, and the three rabbits and chao listened attentively.

"I should have planted a mine on that robot's head," growled Jazz. "The only way to warn Sonic is to beat Robo Knux there, and a teleport would just about kill one of us. Even if we could teleport."

"It takes enormous power," said Destro.

Everyone looked at him.

"You asked what I could do with my chaos field," said Destro to Jazz. "The answer is, many things. But I need your permission to charge my armor off your daughter's aura."

Jazz and Eva exchanged glances. "What do you have to do?"

"Touch her hand," said Destro. "Until I have absorbed as much power as my armor can hold."

Jazz thought for two seconds. "Do it."

Destro held out a hand to Cream. She fearlessly placed her little hand in his metal-link glove, and looked at him. Of the group, only Monty the chao could see what was happening. Chaos radiated from Cream like smoke from a fire, and was vacuumed up by Destro's armor. Chaos rippled over Destro's body as he compressed it inside himself, directing it into his armor's reserves. Minutes passed, and Destro began to sweat with the effort of containing the extra power.

"Is it working?" said Cream, who could feel nothing.

"Yes, and how," said Monty, watching in fascination. "He can't hold much more."

Destro released Cream's hand and backed away, trembling with the effort of holding the power. He moved to a safe distance, then closed his eyes. There was a flash of light, and a clap as air rushed to fill the place where he had been.

Sally ran to her room, followed by the Jackrabbits, and grabbed the tracker. A new blip had appeared on the map, between Sonic and Knuckles. As they watched, Destro's blip moved toward Robo Knux's oncoming storm.

"They're going to fight!" exclaimed Sally.

* * *


	10. Chapter 10

The teleport sucked the stored power from Destro, and he appeared in the Great Forest panting for breath, the energy level in his armor bouncing from extremely high to extremely low. He stood a minute until he knew how much damage he had done. He had burned all the energy had gathered from Cream, but his reserve batteries were oozing with overcharge. He was in good shape, thanks to Cream.

He ignited his jetpack and shot up through the trees, dodging branches until he could peer into the west. Here the sun had set, and the horizon was a band of red and orange. Far out over the ocean, a patch of sky was rippling as if in a heat wave. There was the robot. Destro considered his options. He could fly out to meet Robo Knux, burning energy, and clash over the ocean. If he lost too much power, he would drop into the water. Or he could wait for the robot to reach land and battle here, endangering lives, but with full energy reserves.

Destro decided to fly to the shore and wait there. He was uncertain of Knothole's location, and wanted to have the most distance possible between himself and it. He rocketed west, over the trees, conscious that the Lightgiver had guided him to this point, for this purpose. All the times Destro had had the chance to attack the robot and the Lightgiver had held him back ... something good had come out of each time. Cream had come into Destro's life. Sonic had seen and pursued the robot. Sonic and Jazz had joined forces. And all of this would not have happened if Destro had not been in the right place at the right time.

This was also the right place at the right time. Destro felt the Lightgiver beside him, flying on point and leading him into the approaching chaos storm. Destro bared his teeth in a ferocious grin.

Bring it on.

* * *

"Whoa!" Tails yelled as something roared overhead. He and Knuckles peered up through the trees, but could only see a fading smoke trail.

"What was that?" said Knuckles.

"That was a jetpack," said Tails, ears pricked as he listened to the diminishing roar. "A human-made 3800, four-cylinder, solid-state fuel."

"Who around here has a jetpack?" said Knuckles.

"Nobody I know," said Tails. He looked at his short-range tracker's screen. "No signal from Sonic yet. Let's hurry up and find him."

* * *

Sonic heard the jetpack, too, and he and Max peered at the treetops. "What in the world?" said Sonic. "That sounded just like Destro's jetpack!"

"Who's Destro?" asked Max.

"This guy I met," said Sonic. "But there's no way he could have got here so fast-it's a two day flight."

He and Max walked on, throwing glances at the evening sky. Sonic's strength was trickling back, but he still wanted to lie down and sleep. In the gathering darkness he stumbled over roots and stones, and only Max's shoulder saved him from a fall.

A silent blast of chaos energy struck the Great Forest, rattling leaves, shaking dust from the bark, and knocking Sonic flat. Max fell onto all fours. "Good grief, what was that?"

"That was chaos energy!" said Sonic, clawing to his feet. "Robo Knux! He must be here somewhere! But you've got his emerald, how...?" Sonic paused, wheels turning. He looked at Max. "Oh no. I'll bet they reverse-engineered the ARK technology. We've got to get home, quick!"

* * *

Robo Knux was the eye of a mile-wide chaos distortion like a vast, swirling hurricane. The air inside the field broke down into separate gases, and as Destro flew into the field he found himself breathing nitrogen. His jetpack died and he dropped into a patch of pure oxygen. His jetpack roared and spurted blue flames, rocketing Destro into ordinary atmosphere as heat levels jumped into the red.

There were places where the world was black as ink, and other places where it was so bright he couldn't open his eyes. Below him the shockwave rolled on toward the Great Forest, and every Mobian in its path felt the disturbance and panicked.

Destro drew his sword and flew with it held before him like a spear. Electricity played along the steel blade and rippled over his gloves and armor. His fur crackled with static. He had to be nearing the robot, he was in the center of the chaos storm-

Diamond-tipped claws slashed through his helmet, tearing off the left side of the face guard. Destro spun around and slashed, but Robo Knux dodged away and circled, his eyes leaving blue streaks against a sudden onset of darkness. Destro felt blood trickling down the side of his head, but he didn't care. He flew at his enemy, who blocked the blow with claws crossed. Sparks showered into the dark, changing colors as they fell. The battle had begun.

* * *

Knuckles and Tails were hit by the shockwave, and Knuckles helped Tails to his feet. "That was chaos energy," said Knuckles, his eyes wild. "I've never felt anything like that in my life!"

"Is it a flux?" Tails asked, his fur standing on end.

"I don't know what it is. What's the tracker say?"

"It's gone dead. You sure it was chaos and not a magnetic pulse?"

"It was chaos," said Knuckles. "I guess we do this the old-fashioned way." He cupped his hands around his mouth and shouted, "Hey Sonic!"

Tails joined in. "Son-ic!"

"Hey!" came a distant shout, and the pair hurried toward it, groping in the darkness under the trees. Knuckles called again, and Sonic replied, and a few minutes later they found each other. "What's going on?" asked Knuckles. "Did you feel the chaos wave?"

"That's Robo Knux," said Sonic. "He had this emerald-" He slapped Max on the back "-and made a field distortion with it. We got the emerald, but he still has the distortion."

"That shouldn't happen," said Knuckles, horrified. "He's just a robot!"

"He might have a chaos drive in him, or something like that," said Sonic. "You know Robotnik stripped the ARK of all the technology he didn't have. And there's a guy with a jetpack, that's Destro, he's on our side."

"Destro?" said Tails. "Destro the fox? That Destro?"

"Yeah," said Sonic, but Knuckles interrupted, "We can explain later. I've got to get Max and the emerald back to Eagle's Nest. Zephyer doesn't have much time."

The four set off at a near run, dodging trees and tripping over unseen things. "What do you mean, she doesn't have much time?" said Sonic.

"We derobotized her," said Knuckles, "and the biometal..."

"It was eating her alive," Tails finished. "When it came off, it tore her full of holes."

Sonic winced. "Poor Zeff!"

A series of flashes illuminated the horizon. Knuckles looked toward it. "This is impossible," he muttered. "Robo Knux has control of the chaos field."

"I'd help if I could," said Sonic, "but I'm wiped out. And I tried to fight him as Hyper and it ... didn't work."

"I have to stay with Zephyer," said Knuckles.

Tails said nothing.

Sonic found the fox's hand in the darkness and shoved a crumpled wad into it. "Plan B," Sonic whispered. Tails tried to hand it back, but Sonic had withdrawn. Tails unfolded it, identifying it by touch.

It was Sonic's emerald belt.

* * *

The eye of the chaos storm swirled around Robo Knux like a pillar of red and violet lightning, moving where he moved. Destro dove into it, sword raised, and felt his armor absorb power like a sponge. He slashed at the robot, who parried the blow with his claws, then twisted and nearly yanked the blade from Destro's hands. Destro broke out of the storm center and circled around through light and darkness, as stars appeared and vanished in all directions, as if the fabric of time and space was tearing.

A beam of energy struck him and sent him reeling, his jetpack smoking. Robo Knux was there, his eyes dancing with madness. Destro scrambled in midair, willing his jet to ignite and carry him clear, but his jet refused to respond. As he fell Robo Knux flew after him, claws extended, and Destro slashed at him. The force of his swing sent him into a wild spin, and he felt the deadly claws connect with his armored torso. Hot pain spread down his side.

His jet ignited! Destro righted himself and flew straight up at the still-descending robot, and his blade struck the body. There was a ringing snap, and Destro dropped his broken sword, hands numbed from the shock. Robo Knux laughed, the sound echoing through the silent storm. "You're dead, fox."

* * *

Eagle's Nest in the darkness looked like a floating city, with lights beginning suddenly thirty feet from the ground. Sonic had never been so glad to see it. He stood aside and waited as Knuckles made Max take the emerald out of his mouth and shrink to small form, then climb the ladder like a monkey.

Sonic turned to Tails. "If Robo Knux gets this far, you're our last defense."

Tails looked at the emerald belt. "He's really strong, Sonic. You said it didn't work when you fought him as Hyper, so why should I be any different?"

Sonic said quietly, "Remember who you beat in a fight the last time you used the super emeralds?"

"Knuckles ... and you," said Tails, and stared at the belt.

"Right," said Sonic. "You're a match for a dumb robot. Now I need to go to bed." He started up the ladder and said over his shoulder, "You know I'm tired when I have to leave an awesome fight to you."

Tails gazed at the belt again, weighed down by the enormity of what Sonic had asked him to do. Sonic had placed the safety of Knothole and New Mobitropolis in his hands. Tails thought of the times he had battled Robotnik's machines, and Robotnik himself, and won. Robo Knux was nothing compared to that.

He buckled on the belt.

* * *

Destro flew in a spiral, flying higher and higher in the storm. Robo Knux pursued him, the center of the storm, radiating chaotic power and insanity in brilliant shades of red and purple. Destro was hurting. His head and chest were bleeding from claw scratches, and the halves of his sword were lost in the darkness far below. But he still had the chaos inside of himself, which he could fight with if he had to. He was worried that using it, however, would make the robot stronger.

"Think!" he told himself as he flew. "You've got to outsmart him! What's his weakness?" Robo Knux's weakness was the machinery that composed his body. Somehow he had found a way to keep the chaos energy from cooking him like a potato in a microwave. Perhaps he was using a converter of some kind. In which case, if Destro could damage it, Robo Knux's power buildup would fry his circuits.

Destro switched off his jet and dropped, steel boots first onto Robo Knux's upturned face. The impact sent Robo Knux and Destro flying apart, and Destro caught himself with his jet and spun to see if he had done any damage. The robot was still pursuing. His eyes were green now, and wavering like water. Destro gazed at his eyes a second too long and dodged too late, and Robo Knux slammed into him claws first. Destro clung to the robot's arms, fired his jet and pitched the two of them into a wild, mid-air spin. Robo Knux's hover jets were cancelled out, and they began to fall.

* * *

Knuckles stepped into the medical hut and walked to Zephyer's bed. The doctor was sitting on a stool beside her bed, and looked up as Knuckles entered. "Did you get it?"

"Yes," said Knuckles breathlessly, setting Max on the bed and handing him the emerald. "The chao is the only one who can work the healing power."

Max crawled up beside Zephyer's head and examined her face. She was asleep, and her face had taken on a grayish hue. After a few minutes he announced, "She's very, very sick."

"Can you help her?" asked Knuckles.

Max looked at her. "Yeeess ... but it won't be easy. Velocity was hurt bad, but he had more life in him than she does."

Knuckles closed his eyes a minute. "Do you mean you'll have to give her some of yours?"

"That's how I did it for another chao," said Max. "She's an echidna. It might not work the same."

"Could you use me?" said Knuckles.

"Let me see," said Max. He bit the emerald and slid off the bed as he grew to his large form, and placed a broad flipper on her forehead. The emerald in his mouth glowed a bright, steady green for a few seconds.

"This will take some work," said Max, looking at Knuckles. "Hold my other flipper, I'll see if I can borrow from you to help her."

Knuckles grasped the chao's wide, warm flipper and watched Zephyer for any change. Max fixed his eyes on her and drew on the emerald's power, sorting through its abilities until he settled on one of the few Order powers left to the emeralds-healing. He collected strength from Knuckles, pushing the power from one echidna, through himself, and into the other. In the back of his mind he wished Talon was there, but he reassured himself that by healing Zephyer, he was making Talon happy.

Knuckles felt weariness creep through him, but he kept his eyes on Zephyer. He imagined her wounds sealing from the inside, and wondered if he could actually see color creeping into her face. As the minutes ticked by the sense of weariness increased until Knuckles felt as if he had run a marathon. Still Max stayed focused and the emerald illuminated his half-open mouth with neon green light. In the distance, Knuckles heard a rumble of thunder. Then he realized it was not thunder as another surge of chaos washed over him. He wavered, but stayed standing.

Tails ran by outside, his feet pounding on the wooden catwalk. Knuckles noted it with the back of his mind. Dr. Shepherd was watching the healing, and Knuckles didn't want to faint in front of him.

As his strength was funneled away, Knuckles began to wonder in a loopy sort of way if Zephyer could pick up his thoughts and emotions along with his energy. He called up his consuming homesickness for his island. He thought about his love for her, and his fury at her for giving up, all mixed up until he wanted to cry, which Knuckles seldom ever did. Zephyer had made him feel these things, and she was his greatest strength and greatest weakness. He needed her. He held these things in his mind, mentally forcing them at the still figure on the bed, willing her to feel what he was feeling as long as it made her well, as long as she got well, as long as she got well, as long as...

Zephyer's eyes opened just as Knuckles collapsed.


	11. Chapter 11

Tails stood on the highest walkway in Eagle's Nest and peered into the approaching chaos distortion. It was rolling in like a thunderstorm, but lit with weird patches of light that swirled, vanished and reappeared like images in a nightmare. Once in a while a flash illuminated the core of the storm, like a tall funnel that arched and moved as Robo Knux flew around. It was nearing the outskirts of New Mobitropolis, and in the deepening darkness, imagination ran wild with what the rest of the storm looked like.

Tails looked down at Sonic's belt and touched the smooth faces of the super emerald miniatures. When he had used them last time, four flicky birds appeared from their home dimension to share his power and help him fight. But they had sacrificed themselves to save him, and he had sworn to never touch the emeralds again. He looked up at the chaos distortion. Sonic was depending on him. The last time Sonic had depended on him, Tails had let him down, and Tails was afraid to try again. But there was no one else who could use the super emeralds. Sonic was exhausted and Knuckles was with Zephyer.

Zephyer. For a second Tails thought of her horrendous derobotization, and of the way she looked hurt and bandaged. What if Robo Knux found her? The thought sent chills down his spine. Tails would have to defend everyone himself, because there was no one else.

He fumbled with the emeralds for a moment, trying to remember how Sonic activated them. It was kind of like striking a match, because there was friction involved ... Tails's hands slipped over the belt and the emeralds flashed to life. His orange fur became molten gold, and he felt as light as a feather. He stood poised on the walkway for an instant, then leaped into space and flew toward the storm, powered by chaos and horribly afraid of what would happen next.

* * *

Destro and Robo Knux hit the ground, and Destro lay stunned, still clinging to the robot. The diamond-tipped claws had pierced his stomach and right shoulder, but Robo Knux radiated such power that Destro's armor healed his body even as the claws were withdrawn.

Robo Knux snarled. "What must I do to kill you, fox?" He stabbed Destro over and over, but the wounds healed instantly. Destro reached up and grabbed Robo Knux by the hole in his chest, and threw him over backward.

"I know what you're doing," spat the robot. "You know my weakness. And I know yours. Your armor." He leaped to his feet and tried to tear off Destro's breastplate.

"No!" Destro growled, and released chaos energy in the form of an electric surge that knocked the robot head over heels. Destro ran after him, knowing that his only chance was to stay close to Robo Knux, so there would be enough chaos in the vicinity for his armor to repair the holes in itself.

But Robo Knux was crafty. He lay on the ground, feigning unconsciousness until Destro was within striking distance, then sprang up and slashed the helmet free of Destro's head. He flung it skyward and planted three laser blasts in it as it fell, then laughed at Destro's expression of horror. Without his helmet, Destro's jetpack controls were gone.

"Not so cocky now, are we?" sneered Robo Knux. "I can use chaos just like you, and I have more weapons than a puny sword."

"But I have backup," said Destro.

"Where?" said Robo Knux. "Who in the world would come help an outcast freak like you?"

Destro pointed, and Robo Knux half-turned just as Super Tails struck him in a midair spin, his tails whirling like helicopter blades.

"I'm Tails," said Tails to Destro as Robo Knux picked himself up. The young fox's teeth were chattering in excitement and terror. "What do we do?"

"He has a chaos converter of some kind," said Destro. "We must disable it."

"I have an idea," whispered Tails. "Find a big rock." He leaped into the air and flew in wide circles. "Hey Robo Knux! Sonic sent me because he had better things to do than fight a dumb robot!"

Robo Knux sprang after him, hover jets roaring.

Destro watched from the ground, where he had located a rock with a sharp edge. He didn't dare use his jetpack now, but was thankful for the rest. His remaining armor had time to repair and recharge itself, and he had time for a word with the Lightgiver. "Thank you for giving me victory thus far. I've felt your protection throughout the battle. But what do I do now?"

"Wait for Tails," came the Lightgiver's quiet voice. "He knows what he's doing."

Destro watched the dark robot and the glowing fox circle and dance high above him, and found himself worried about this newcomer. What was the matter with him? He had never worried about anyone before-Cream had taught him how to care about other people. He puzzled over this while the chaos distortion destroyed the atmosphere inside it and scorched the grass and rock beneath it. Beside Destro stood the Lightgiver with sword drawn, and around him the chaos field was stilled. Destro was in a little oasis of peace.

Up in the air, Super Tails was throwing every taunt at his enemy that he could think of. Some of them he made note of to tell Sonic later, like, "Your mother was a 386 PC and your father was a shovel!" He was trying to infuriate the robot, and was succeeding. Robo Knux began firing lasers and rockets at him, and Tails dodged or deflected all of them, the super emeralds protecting him from all harm.

"Come on, use your chaos gun on me!" Tails shouted. "I know you have one or you wouldn't have charge up like this! What's the matter? Chicken?"

"That was a fowl insult," snarled the robot. "I'm not wasting my death ray on the likes of you."

"Death ray?" said Tails, doing a flip. "Don't make me laugh! Besides, even a death ray couldn't hurt me." He dove earthward, and Robo Knux, maddened beyond reason, followed him.

Tails and Robo Knux landed near Destro at the same time. "Let's fight on the ground, like civilized people," said Tails. "Go ahead, take your best shot!" He held up his arms to make himself a better target.

Robo Knux couldn't resist. His entire torso opened up to reveal his hot yellow fusion core and a baseball-sized lens. Embedded in the wires and machinery under the lens was a fiery green chaos drive.

As the lens powered up, Tails pointed and yelled, "Smash the chaos drive!"

Destro ran up, ducked under the lens and crushed the fragile glass tube with the rock in his fist.

Robo Knux screamed. Destro scrambled away on all fours, and Tails threw himself flat. The death ray backfired, and the robot caught fire from the inside. As if that weren't enough, the entire chaos storm poured down out of the sky, through Robo Knux, and into the earth like grounded lightning. It looked like a mass of smoke and chaotic colors and images, and Robo Knux sparked and smoked, finally collapsing. Still the storm came down on his head, and the ground became hot underfoot.

Suddenly it was over. The night was silent, the stars were clear and bright, and Robo Knux was offline and flaming in the center of a blackened ring. Tails and Destro stood staring at their fallen enemy for a long time. Then Destro turned to Tails and held out his hand. "Thanks."

Tails shook his hand, smiling. "Thank you, sir. For letting me fight along with you. It was an honor."

"An honor?" Destro looked blank. "Why an honor?"

"You're famous in the robotics community," said Tails, looking down. "Your armor and weapons are thirty years ahead of their time, and everyone knows how you go around fighting for the underdog. I've always wanted to meet you."

Destro didn't know what to say. He stammered, "It-it wasn't me, it was the Lightgiver. He sent me here." He turned away and mumbled something about finding his helmet.

"I'll help!" said Tails. "I'm glowing, and I'm the only light we have."

The foxes searched the scorched area where the chaos distortion had been, and located Destro's helmet, burned and full of holes. Destro clamped it on his head anyway, and it immediately began to repair itself. "I need to go," he said to Tails. "I have another mission."

"Oh, sure," said Tails awkwardly. "Um, see you around."

Destro ignited his jetpack and flew away into the night, and Super Tails watched him go. Then he spun his two tails and flew back toward the forest, planning to wake up Sonic and tell him everything.

This story archived at: The Domain of NetRaptor

* * *

**Chapter 4: Chapter 4: The Silver Lining**

* * *

**25\. Silver Lining: Part 4: The Silver Lining**

by NetRaptor1

Silver Lining

By K. M. Hollar

_ Every cloud has a silver lining.

Part 4: The Silver Lining

Knuckles came to late that night, and found himself lying in bed in his Eagle's Nest quarters. He was so tired he felt like he had been sick, and lay there for a moment, trying to remember why he felt like this. Suddenly he remembered Sonic and Max and the chaos emerald and-

"Zephyer!"

He sprang out of bed and caught himself before he fell over. How much had Max drained him, anyway? He must have fainted, and the stupid chao continued draining off energy. Knuckles was lucky to be alive. But even as he told himself this, he knew that Zephyer must be well-she had to be well-if he felt this bad. He fumbled on his shoes and left the room, walking slowly.

Eagle's Nest was dark and still. Knuckles remembered the chaos distortion and wondered what had become of it, and reminded himself to ask Sonic and Tails in the morning. It must be near midnight. He should have stayed in bed, but he had to see Zephyer.

A dim light was burning in the medical hut, and Knuckles wondered if the doctor was inside. He could hear voices. He opened the door very slowly and peered in.

Zephyer was propped up on pillows with a lamp burning beside her, reading aloud from a book. Max was cuddled up to her on one side, and Zephyer's chao Zinc was on her other side. Both chao sat up as Knuckles looked in.

"Well!" said Zephyer, setting down the book. "I didn't expect to see you for another two days!"

Knuckles sank into the chair beside her bed, utterly spent. "I guess it worked, then."

"Yes," said Zephyer. "All but the worst of the wounds are gone. Shepherd wants to keep me under observation for another week, he says I'm still not well. I made him send for Zinc to keep Max company."

"Nice of him," said Knuckles, gazing at Zephyer and not caring what she said, as long as she said it like her old self.

She returned his gaze and said quietly, "Thank you for doing that."

"No problem," said Knuckles. "How is it being derobotized finally?"

Zephyer held up one hand and examined it. "You see this hand? I never expected to see it again. And I can FEEL! You have no idea what it's like being without feeling." She stroked Max and Zinc, then said, "Are you mad at me?"

"Mad at you?" said Knuckles, realizing he was being lulled to sleep by her voice. "No, why?"

"Because when Max was healing me..." She hesitated. "Well, I felt like you were mad at me for giving up."

"I was," said Knuckles. "I didn't expect you to feel it, though."

"You also made me miss the Floating Island," said Zephyer, gazing at the chao to avoid looking at him. "And ... I felt how much you loved me."

Knuckles smiled. "Neither of which have changed." He slid closer and took her hands, and to his amusement she stroked and felt his hands all over, reveling in her newly restored fifth sense. She touched his face and hair, too, smiling. "The world's not real until you can touch it." She looked into his eyes, and he was struck by their intense shade of blue, almost violet. "Did you ever cry over me?" she whispered.

"No," Knuckles whispered back. "But I was really close a couple of times."

"Good," she whispered. For a second he thought she was going to let him kiss her, but she pushed him away. "Now go lay down before you fall down. You look like death warmed over."

"I got it from you," said Knuckles, standing up and bracing himself for the long walk back to his room. "Goodnight, Zephyer."

"Goodnight, Knux," said Zephyer, picking up her book.

As the door closed behind him, Max and Zinc exchanged scornful looks. "Mush."

* * *

It took Sally five days to get home.

Sonic took the chaos emerald and teleported back to Central Mobius, and just as before, arrived in a state of exhaustion. He had to rest for a day before he and Sally began hiking north. Sometimes Sonic ran all out, and other times he just poked along. They were accompanied part of the way by Jazz and his family, who were also traveling north to their home in Carrotseed. They parted ways with a match race between Jazz and Sonic, which Sonic won by spin dashing at the last second.

It took two days to reach Prairietown, and the Cyclone was just as they had left it, although the seats were wet from a recent rain. Sonic wiped them down. "If Tails finds out I left the Cyclone out in the weather, he'll kill me," he told Sally. "Don't tell him, okay?"

"You got it," said Sally, laughing.

Tails had told Sonic all about his battle with Robo Knux, and Sonic relayed it to Sally with the details exaggerated. Sally wondered how he knew some of these things, because Sonic had been sound asleep at the time, but listened anyway. She had watched everything over the chaos tracker, and had scarcely breathed until the chaos storm shrank to nothing and vanished, and the mysterious blip that was Super Tails winked out as suddenly as it had come.

Several times Sonic paused and made as though to ask Sally a question, then changed his mind and talked about something else. Sally wondered what was on his mind, and noticed that he went out of his way to be kind to her. It was like the old days, when they had simply been fellow Freedom Fighters.

Sally didn't deduce what was on Sonic's mind until they were fueling the Cyclone for takeoff. Sonic was down by the fuel tank, and Sally was in the copilot's seat. "I wonder where Destro went," she said idly. "You know, I saw him with his helmet off, and he was actually cute."

Sonic's head jerked up. "Destro? Cute? Don't make me laugh."

"He had one white ear," said Sally, watching Sonic's pupils dilate. "It made him look ... roguish, you know?"

"He's a berserker with a sword!" said Sonic. "All he did was fight Robo Knux, he's not that great."

Sally pursed her lips. "Sonic, are you jealous?"

"No," said Sonic, reddening. "I just didn't think Destro looked any different from the next fox."

There was a moment of silence as Sally watched Sonic. "Sonic, if you're going to make a move, you'd better do it soon, because once we get home, I have mountains of work to do."

"Make a move?" said Sonic, even redder. "I don't know what you're talking about."

"Sure you don't," said Sally, sitting back in the airplane seat. "I'm not blind, Sonic Hedgehog. What do you want from me? Spit it out."

Sonic straightened and looked up at her. "Well, um. I kind of wanted ... I mean, we're friends and all that, but we're kind of drifting apart, and, you know, I..." He trailed off and looked miserable.

Sally wanted to hear him say it. "So we're drifting apart. What should we do about that?" She gave him her best blonde look.

Sonic dug a toe into the ground. "I want us to be better friends."

He wouldn't say it, but it was a start.

"All right," said Sally, smiling. "Starting now, let's be better friends."

Sonic grinned, clearly thinking he had dodged a bullet.

Sally didn't want to see him squirm anymore, so she changed the subject. "Do you think those clouds out there will slow us down?" And the topic moved on to the weather.

* * *

By the time Sonic and Sally arrived home, Zephyer was hobbling around on her own and was eating everything in sight. She looked completely different without her metal, and was dressing in borrowed clothes from girls in the village-she had no clothes of her own.

When Sonic went to see her, Zephyer was wearing a pair of Serena's jeans, a shirt with one of Sally's vests over it, and a pair of shoes that had been manufactured before the coup. She still sported a few bandages, and walked with a limp. She was in her room with a pad of paper and a pencil, which she laid down as Sonic walked in.

"Hi Zeff," he said. "What're you writing?"

"Gibberish," said Zephyer. "I have to learn to hold a pencil all over again. How was your trip?"

"Good," said Sonic, closing the door. "I, uh, wanted to give that ring back." He pulled off his glove and slid the ring off his finger.

"So it didn't work out?" said the echidna, putting the ring in the box with the others.

"Not how I expected," said Sonic, sitting on the edge of the bed. "I never got the nerve to ask her."

"Knuckles only asked me the first time because we thought we would both die in the next few minutes," said Zephyer. "Otherwise, it's something you have to work up to."

"So I gathered," said Sonic wryly. "I'm going to try to help her with her work." He pointed a finger down his throat.

"Hey, if you don't give up anything, you don't really like her," said Zephyer.

"I know, I keep thinking that," said Sonic. "Knux has totally put me to shame with this derobotization stuff. Where is he, by the way?"

"The island," said Zephyer. "He couldn't stand being away from it any more." Her face fell at the thought.

Sonic watched her. "Why don't you elope?"

"I've thought about it," said Zephyer sheepishly, "but I think we owe it to everybody to have a proper wedding."

"Set a date yet?"

Zephyer shook her head. "We're thinking June, but it depends on how fast I recover. Moving out to the island now would kill me." She rolled up one sleeve and showed Sonic the edge of a bandage that covered her shoulder.

Sonic shook his head. "Man, you're lucky to be alive."

"Tell me about it," said Zephyer. "The scariest thing isn't that, though."

"What?"

She leaned forward and whispered, "I have to marry him now!"

"But I thought you were in love with the guy," said Sonic, baffled.

Zephyer toyed with her pencil. "I am. But it still scares me to death. What if I've made some kind of mistake?"

"About what?" said Sonic. "Knux just gave you ten years off his life. If you broke up with him now, it'd kill him."

"I know, and I don't want to break up, not really," said Zephyer. "I just feel like there's a catch somewhere that I haven't figured out."

"I know what it is," said Sonic, grinning. "You're marrying Knuckles, the walking volcano. Any other girl would run screaming in the opposite direction."

"Well, he's marrying Zephyer, the bullheaded moron," said Zephyer. "We're perfect for each other."

"He's a headache and you're a pill," said Sonic, and ducked as Zephyer threw her pencil at him.

"Look at it this way," said Sonic. "Sally told me this when we were flying home. Out of all the bad stuff that happened last week, good came out of it. Sally and I went on a wild goose chase, but we got to know each other better, and we got to meet Jazz Jackrabbit's family. I wore myself out on the teleport back, but I got here in time. Tails and Destro were smart enough to defeat Robo Knux. You got derobotized in the nick of time, and here you are."

"All the clouds had silver linings," said Zephyer. "What happened to Destro?"

"He hightailed it," said Sonic, getting up. "Maybe he'll come back someday, who knows? I'd better go now, Sal will think I've reneged on my help offer." He pointed a finger down his throat again and left. Zephyer grinned after him, and picked up her notepad.

* * *

Destro stood in a phone booth two miles from Carrotseed, and fingered the two coins needed to make a call. It was three weeks later, and he had made his way back to Central Mobius with only the Lightgiver for company. Destro had had a lot of time to think about what had happened, and had finally figured out why he had been thrown in with Cream. She had battered down the walls around his heart and helped him see that emotions were not bad things. Or, rather, the Lightgiver had used Cream to show him this.

Destro deposited his coins and dialed a number. He waited as it rang, then said, "Hello Jazz, this is Destro. You wouldn't happen to want a tutor to train Cream to control her chaos field, would you?" He listened for a moment, a smile stealing across his face. "Yes sir, I can start tomorrow. Thank you."

Destro hung up and gazed at the houses of Carrotseed in the distance. For the first time in his life, he would have a place to call home.

The End


End file.
